![Ivan Tsarevich and cameo appearances of Pepper and Carrot in Morevna Project episode 4](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Ivan_Tsarevich_and_cameo_appearances_of_Pepper_and_Carrot_in_Morevna_Project_episode_4.png)
A crossover is the placement of two or more otherwise discrete
fictional
characters
Character or Characters may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Literature
* ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk
* ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...
,
settings, or
universes into the context of a single
story
Story or stories may refer to:
Common uses
* Story, a narrative (an account of imaginary or real people and events)
** Short story, a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting
* Story (American English), or storey (British ...
. They can arise from legal agreements between the relevant
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
holders, unofficial efforts by
fans, or common corporate ownership.
Background
Official
Crossovers often occur in an official capacity in order for the
intellectual property
Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, cop ...
rights holders to reap the financial reward of combining two or more popular, established properties. In other cases, the crossover can serve to introduce a new concept derivative of an older one.
Crossovers generally occur between properties owned by a single holder, but they can, more rarely, involve properties from different holders, provided that the inherent legal obstacles can be overcome. They may also involve using characters that have passed into the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable. Because those rights have expired, ...
with those concurrently under
copyright protection
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
.
A crossover story may try to explain its own reason for the crossover, such as characters being neighbors (notable examples being the casts from ''
The Golden Girls'' and ''
Empty Nest
''Empty Nest'' is an American television sitcom that aired for seven seasons on NBC from October 8, 1988, to April 29, 1995. The series, which was created as a spin-off of ''The Golden Girls'' by creator and producer Susan Harris, starred Ri ...
'') or meeting via dimensional rift or similar phenomenon (a common explanation for
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...
properties that have different owners). Some crossovers are not explained at all. Others are absurd or simply impossible within the fictional setting, and have to be ignored by the series' respective
continuities. Still, others intentionally make the relations between two or more fictional universes confusing, as with ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' and ''
Futurama'', where each show is fiction in the other.
Unofficial
In contrast with legal crossovers, unofficial crossovers are created solely because of the artistic pleasure derived by their creators. Unofficial crossovers often take the form of
fan-written fiction and
fan art
Fan art or fanart is artwork created by fans of a work of fiction and derived from a series character or other aspect of that work. They are usually done by amateur artists, semi-professionals or professionals. As fan labor, fan art refers t ...
, but the trope is increasingly prevalent in
amateur films and
audio
Audio most commonly refers to sound, as it is transmitted in signal form. It may also refer to:
Sound
* Audio signal, an electrical representation of sound
*Audio frequency, a frequency in the audio spectrum
* Digital audio, representation of sou ...
. Whereas official crossovers are frequently stymied by such concerns as copyright, royalties payments, quality of writing and ownership of the characters, unofficial crossovers are unfettered by such concerns, so long as property holders do not exercise their right to
enjoin
An injunction is a legal and equitable remedy in the form of a special court order that compels a party to do or refrain from specific acts. ("The court of appeals ... has exclusive jurisdiction to enjoin, set aside, suspend (in whole or in p ...
the distribution of such material. A good example would be the unauthorised live action fan film ''
Batman: Dead End'' which brings together the properties of ''Batman'', ''
Alien'' and ''
Predator
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
'' in one setting.
Unofficial crossovers can also occur in a "what-if" scenario.
Roger
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
makes frequent cameo appearances in ''Family Guy'', while
Brian
Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world.
It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...
makes cameos on ''American Dad!''. Roger,
Rallo Tubbs, and
Klaus Heissler
Klaus Heisler is a fictional character from the animated television series ''American Dad!'' The Smith family's hapless and mostly hated goldfish, he is voiced by Dee Bradley Baker and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his fami ...
were seen in the final ''Family Guy'' ''Star Wars'' spoof, "
It's A Trap!
"It's a Trap!" is a direct-to-video special of the animated series '' Family Guy'' which later served as the double-episode season finale of the ninth season and is the final part of the series' '' Star Wars'' parody trilogy '' Laugh It Up, Fuzz ...
", as
Moff Jerjerrod,
Nien Nunb
Nien Nunb is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Introduced in the 1983 film ''Return of the Jedi'', he was brought to life both as a puppet and a costumed actor during the film. Nunb was puppeteered by Mike Quinn and was portr ...
, and
Admiral Ackbar
Fleet Admiral Gial Ackbar is a fictional character from the ''Star Wars'' franchise. A member of the amphibious Mon Calamari species, Ackbar was the foremost military commander of the Rebel Alliance, and led the attack against the second Dea ...
, respectively. Stewie also appears as an interactive hallucination of Booth on ''
Bones
A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, a ...
'' when the agent has issues over possibly becoming a sperm donor, with David Boreanaz (who plays Booth) repaying the favor in "
Road to the North Pole
"Road to the North Pole" is the seventh episode of the ninth season of the animated comedy series ''Family Guy''. Directed by Greg Colton and co-written by Chris Sheridan and Danny Smith, the episode originally aired on Fox in the United State ...
". An appearance by
Elmo
Elmo is a red Muppet monster character on the long-running PBS/ HBO children's television show ''Sesame Street''. A furry red monster who has a falsetto voice and illeism, he hosts the last full five-minute segment (fifteen minutes prio ...
, from ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...
'', was made, in a hallucination of
Connie Ray
Constance Ray (born July 10, 1956) is an American actress and playwright. Among her highest-profile appearances are ''Thank You for Smoking'' (2006) and ''Stuart Little'' (1999), and the television drama '' ER'' (1997). She also appeared in '' ...
's, on TV sitcom ''
The Torkelsons
''The Torkelsons'' is an American sitcom television series which aired on the NBC television network from September 21, 1991, to June 6, 1993. Produced by Walt Disney Television in season 1 and Touchstone Television in season 2, the series star ...
''. Fan fiction fusions between different science fiction movies and series are often created, such as ''Star Wars'' and ''Star Trek'' or ''Babylon 5'' and ''Stargate''. ''
M.U.G.E.N.'' is a fighting game engine that features many fan-created and fictional characters and stages from various television series, movies, as well as other video games.
Comics
![SpeedComicsNo32](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/SpeedComicsNo32.jpg)
Crossovers of multiple characters, owned by one company or
published
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, news ...
by one
publisher
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
, have been used to set an established continuity, where characters can frequently meet within one setting. This is especially true of
comic book publisher
This list of comics publishing companies lists companies, specifically publishing companies who primarily publish comics. Comic art is an art medium used to present ideas or stories via images. The images are usually arranged in panels in a sequen ...
s, as different characters in various
Marvel
Marvel may refer to:
Business
* Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company
** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment
** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe
** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics
* ...
,
DC, or
Valiant comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
s frequently interact with one another since they live in a "
shared universe
A shared universe or shared world is a fictional universe from a set of creative works where more than one writer (or other artist) independently contributes a work that can stand alone but fits into the joint development of the storyline, chara ...
". For example, in the Marvel Comics universe,
Spider-Man has frequent dealings with another Marvel hero,
Daredevil, just as in the DC Comics Universe, the
Flash
Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
Fictional aliases
* Flash (DC Comics character), several DC Comics superheroes with super speed:
** Flash (Barry Allen)
** Flash (Jay Garrick)
** Wally West, the first Kid F ...
and
Green Lantern
Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...
often collaborate. In comic book terminology, these "guest star" roles are common enough that they are generally not considered crossovers; rather, this short-term collaboration to fight crime is called a
team-up
In superhero comic books, a team-up is a fictional crossover where two or more superheroes or superhero teams who usually do not appear together work together on a shared goal.
Overview
The first team-up between characters published in different c ...
. A crossover in comic book terms only occurs when a story spans more than one title. This has led to "crossover events" in which major occurrences are shown as affecting most or all of the stories in the shared universe; see
Crossover comics.
The earliest such crossover event was
Gardner Fox
Gardner Francis Cooper Fox (May 20, 1911 – December 24, 1986) was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. He is estimated to have written more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC ...
's ''Zatanna's Search'' which took place in ''
Hawkman'' #4 (October/November 1964), ''
Detective Comics'' #336 (February 1965), ''
The Atom
The Atom is a name shared by five superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics.
The original Golden Age of comic books, Golden Age Atom, Atom (Al Pratt), Al Pratt, was created by writer Bill O'Connor and artist Ben Flin ...
'' #19 (June/July 1965), ''
Green Lantern
Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...
'' #42 (January 1966), ''Detective Comics'' #355 (September 1966), and ''
Justice League of America
The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in '' The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceive ...
'' #51 (February 1967). This story dealt with
Zatanna
Zatanna Zatara () is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson, and first appeared in ''Hawkman (comic book), Hawkman'' #4 (November 1964). Zatanna is a st ...
attempting to reconnect with her father,
Zatara
Giovanni "John" Zatara is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. He debuted as a superhero, starring in his own stories in '' Action Comics'' during the Golden Age of Comics. He first appeared in the fi ...
, and seeking the aid of Hawkman, Batman,
Robin, the Atom, Green Lantern, and the
Elongated Man along the way.
The first major crossover event was spearheaded by the Marvel Editor-in-Chief at the time,
Jim Shooter
James Shooter (born September 27, 1951) is an American writer, editor and publisher for various comic books. He started professionally in the medium at the age of 14, and he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comic ...
. As a way to further toy sales he devised the ''
Secret Wars
''Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars'', commonly known as ''Secret Wars'' for short, is a twelve-issue American comic book crossover limited series published from May 1984 to April 1985 by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jim Shooter, with ...
'' crossover which brought all the major Marvel heroes into a 12-issue miniseries to battle a common threat. After the threat was dealt with, they all returned to their regular titles. ''Secret Wars'' was hailed as both a critical and commercial success, largely because the events of the crossover had lasting effects on the characters (such as the introduction of
Spider-Man's black suit which would later become the villain
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a st ...
). Jim Shooter later perfected his crossover technique at
Valiant Comics
Valiant Comics is an American comic books, comic book publisher. The company was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was sold to Acclaim E ...
with the ''
Unity
Unity may refer to:
Buildings
* Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building
* Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper
* Unity Buildings, Liverpool, UK; two buildings in England
* Unity Chapel, Wyoming, Wisconsin, US; ...
'' event. ''Unity'' brought all the Valiant characters together to defeat
Mothergod, but was told within the existing Valiant Comics titles (and two bookend special issues). Readers were not obliged to buy all 18 chapters as the story was coherent when reading just one title, but far more layered when all were read. Like ''Secret Wars'', the ''Unity'' crossover had lasting effects on the Valiant universe; most notably the introduction of
Turok
Turok is a fictional character who first appeared in American comic books published by Western Publishing through licensee Dell Comics. He first appeared in ''Four Color Comics'' #596 (October/November 1954). After a second ''Four Color'' appear ...
, the birth of
Magnus, Robot Fighter
Magnus, Robot Fighter is a fictional superhero, appearing in comic books created by writer/artist Russ Manning in 1963.Steve Holland, ''Sci-Fi Art : a graphic history''. Lewes : ILEX, 2009. (pp. 102-3) Magnus first appeared in ''Magnus Robot Fight ...
and the death of a major Valiant hero.
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...
's ''Aliens Versus Predator'' comic book franchise was a success that continued into many video games, two films and even an ''Aliens versus Predator versus The Terminator'' comic book miniseries.
The comic crossovers from
Raj Comics are very famous in India, in which the superheroes meet to fight a common enemy. Many of these crossovers have occurred between
Nagraj and
Super Commando Dhruva. In ''Kohram'', all the heroes in the Raj Universe meet to finish ''Haru'', an extremely powerful enemy.
Webcomics
Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books.
Webcomics can be co ...
creators sometimes produce crossovers; one of the first was a two-week sequence between
Christopher Baldwin
Christopher Baldwin (born February 25, 1973) is an American illustrator and author of several webcomics, the most significant being ''Bruno'', a look at the life of an introspective young woman set in the real world. Other works include shorter ...
's ''
Bruno
Bruno may refer to:
People and fictional characters
*Bruno (name), including lists of people and fictional characters with either the given name or surname
* Bruno, Duke of Saxony (died 880)
* Bruno the Great (925–965), Archbishop of Cologne, ...
'' and Peter Zale's ''
Helen, Sweetheart of the Internet'' in 1998.
In 2013, Archie Comics released a 12-part crossover of
Capcom character
Mega Man and
Sega character
Sonic the Hedgehog called "
Worlds Collide". Taking place in issues of the ''
Sonic the Hedgehog'', ''
Sonic Universe
''Sonic Universe'' was an American comic book series published by Archie Comics in association with Sega, based on the latter's ''Sonic the Hedgehog''. It is a spin-off of the comic book series of the '' same name'', and shared continuity with th ...
'', and ''
Mega Man'' comic book series from Archie, the crossover involved
Dr. Eggman and
Dr. Wily forming an alliance to take over both their universes and destroy their respective nemeses. Sonic and Mega Man were briefly tricked into fighting each other, but later joined forces and teamed up with other heroes to battle the doctors' forces, which included virtually every Robot Master introduced in the ''Mega Man'' games. The popularity of this crossover and the books involved led to a second crossover in 2015 entitled "Worlds Unite", which not only reunited Sonic and Mega Man, but also featured comics-exclusive characters from both of their books, the ''
Mega Man X
is a series of action platform video games released by Capcom. It is a sub-series of the ''Mega Man'' franchise. The first game was released on December 17, 1993 in Japan (January 1994 in North America) on the Super NES/Super Famicom; most o ...
'' and ''
Sonic Boom
A sonic boom is a sound associated with shock waves created when an object travels through the air faster than the speed of sound. Sonic booms generate enormous amounts of sound energy, sounding similar to an explosion or a thunderclap to ...
'' spinoff franchises and various other SEGA and Capcom franchises. This crossover was enabled by the conclusion of the first crossover, which saw a reboot to the Sonic books as their universe was drastically rewritten. Aftereffects of this included the Genesis Portals, gateways connecting worlds that would be exploited by ''Mega Man X'' villain Sigma and his minions, forcing a reunion between Sonic and Mega Man and an alliance between heroes of the various franchises involved. "Worlds Unite" spans not only the three series featured in the first crossover, but also includes the ''Sonic Boom'' comic series, which entered publication between the two crossovers.
There are also
intercompany crossover
In comic books, an intercompany crossover (also called cross-company or company crossover) is a comic or series of comics in which characters, that at the time of publication are the property or licensed property of one publisher, meet character ...
s, where characters owned by two different companies meet, such as those from DC and Marvel.
Animation
Cartoon crossovers are not uncommon, and most of them – like comics or live-action TV shows – will often feature characters owned by the same company or network. One example is
Cartoon Network's ''The Grim Adventures of the Kids Next Door''. It features five crossovers – ''
Ed, Edd n Eddy
'' Ed, Edd n Eddy'' is a Canadian animated comedy television series created by Danny Antonucci for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. The series revolves around three friends named Ed, Edd (called "Double D" ...
'', ''
Codename: Kids Next Door'', ''
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy
''The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'' is an American animated television series created by Maxwell Atoms for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. It follows Billy, an extremely dimwitted, happy-go-lucky boy, an ...
'', a reference to ''
The Powerpuff Girls
''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Telev ...
'', and a quote from ''
Scooby-Doo
''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are ...
'', which are all licensed Cartoon Network series. The cast of ''
Ben 10: Ultimate Alien'' and ''
Generator Rex
''Generator Rex'' is an American animated science fiction television series created by Man of Action for Cartoon Network, with John Fang of Cartoon Network Studios serving as supervising director. It was inspired by the comic '' M. Rex'', publish ...
'' team up in ''
Ben 10/Generator Rex: Heroes United''. Similarly, characters from ''
Uncle Grandpa
''Uncle Grandpa'' is an American animated television series created by Peter Browngardt for Cartoon Network. It ran from September 2, 2013 to June 30, 2017. It is based on Browngardt's animated short of the same name from the unaired '' Cartoons ...
'' and ''
Steven Universe
''Steven Universe'' is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It tells the coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe ( Zach Callison), who lives with the Crystal Gems—magical, mineral ...
'' appeared in a crossover episode "Say Uncle". The same occurred with ''
The Powerpuff Girls
''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Telev ...
'' and ''
Teen Titans Go!
''Teen Titans Go!'' is an American animated television series developed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic for Cartoon Network. It premiered on April 23, 2013 and is based on the DC Comics fictional superhero team. The series was announce ...
'' in an episode called "TTG v PPG". ''
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes'' did a crossover episode called "Crossover Nexus" to celebrate 25 years of Cartoon Network where the lead character joined forces with Ben 10, Garnet from ''Steven Universe'' and Raven from ''Teen Titans Go!''. Most of the last episodes of the ''
Lilo & Stitch: The Series'' (a spinoff of the film ''
Lilo & Stitch
''Lilo & Stitch'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 42nd Disney animated feature film, it was written and directed by Chris Sande ...
'') had crossovers with various other
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
cartoons, including ''
The Proud Family
''The Proud Family'' is an American animated television series created by Bruce W. Smith that originally ran on Disney Channel from September 15, 2001, to August 19, 2005.
A revival, known as '' The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder'', was announ ...
'', ''
Kim Possible'', ''
Recess'', and ''
American Dragon Jake Long''. The ''
Jimmy Timmy Power Hour
''The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour'' is a trilogy of crossover television specials between the American animated series '' The Fairly OddParents'' and '' The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius'', consisting of ''The Jimmy Timmy Power Hour'', ''The ...
'' trilogy is another example, in which Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner switch universes. The Disney TV series ''
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the ...
'', based on the
1997 film of the same name, had an episode titled "
Hercules and the Arabian Night
The following is a list of episodes from the TV series ''Hercules''.
All major voice actors from the 1997 film reprise their roles, except for Zeus and Philoctetes who are voiced in the series by Corey Burton and Robert Costanzo, respectively. ...
" that had a crossover between the characters of the TV series and film and with the characters of the Disney film ''
Aladdin'' in which Hades and Jafar each try to get rid of each other's enemies (Hades would try to defeat Aladdin, while Jafar would try to defeat Hercules). Another crossover is ''
Rugrats Go Wild
''Rugrats Go Wild'' is a 2003 American animated crossover adventure film based on the Nickelodeon animated television series ''Rugrats'' and ''The Wild Thornberrys''. It is the third and final installment in the ''Rugrats'' film series and the se ...
'' in which the
Rugrats
''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently— Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, a ...
are stranded on an island where
The Wild Thornberrys
''The Wild Thornberrys'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, Steve Pepoon, David Silverman, and Stephen Sustarsic for Nickelodeon. The series portrays an American family of wildlife documentary ...
were at the time. In ''
Dexter's Laboratory'' "Dial M for Monkey" "Huntor" who tries to hunt Monkey is himself hunted; "Huntor" later makes a cameo crossover in
Samurai Jack
''Samurai Jack'' is an American animated action-adventure television series created by Genndy Tartakovsky for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television. Tartakovsky conceived ''Samurai Jack'' after finishing his wor ...
's "Jack vs. Mad Jack."
During the 1970s and 1980s, crossovers were particularly common among the
Hanna-Barbera properties. Some of the earliest examples happened on ''
The New Scooby-Doo Movies'' which featured appearances by characters from ''
Harlem Globetrotters'', ''
Josie and the Pussycats
Josie and the Pussycats (sometimes simply known as The Pussycats) are a fictional girl group
A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense i ...
'', ''
Jeannie'', ''
Speed Buggy
''Speed Buggy'' is an American animated television series, produced by Hanna-Barbera, which originally aired for one season on CBS from September 8, 1973, to December 22, 1973. With the voices of Mel Blanc, Michael Bell, Arlene Golonka, and P ...
'', ''
Batman and Robin'', and ''
The Addams Family
''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over ...
''. Later, the ''
Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10
''Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10'' is a series of 10 syndicated made-for-television animated films produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions as part of ''The Funtastic World of Hanna-Barbera'' programming block from 1987 to 1988, featuring the studio's ...
'' set of movies involved several crossovers, including such combinations as ''
The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones''. This was taken to an extreme in the 1977–79 series ''
Laff-A-Lympics
''Laff-A-Lympics'' is an American animated comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera. The series premiered as part of the Saturday-morning cartoon program block '' Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics'', on ABC in 1977. The show is a spoof ...
,'' which was essentially a gathering of the Hanna-Barbera characters for a regular series.
Crossovers are not necessarily composed of characters under common ownership. Two of the most notable cartoon crossovers consisted of characters from different companies. Disney's movie ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 19 ...
'' had characters from various companies, most notably Disney and
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Mel ...
and
Donald Duck made a simultaneous appearance in one scene in which the two of them exchanged blows during a piano duet. Later in the movie,
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...
and
Mickey Mouse were shown parachuting together (to keep things from getting too iffy legally, Mickey and Bugs' lines were written so that each of them said exactly the same number of words in the movie). The film also includes cameos of characters from
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
. The end of the movie features all the cartoons from all of the animation companies joining in song, to be concluded by
Porky Pig stuttering his famous "That's All, Folks!" line as
Tinker Bell
Tinker Bell is a fictional character from J. M. Barrie's 1904 play '' Peter Pan'' and its 1911 novelisation ''Peter and Wendy''. She has appeared in a variety of film and television adaptations of the Peter Pan stories, in particular the 1953 ...
ends the scene with a magical fade-out.
On February 27, 1998, the Fox Kids shows ''
Power Rangers in Space
''Power Rangers in Space'' is a television series and the sixth season of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, based on the 21st Super Sentai series '' Denji Sentai Megaranger''.
''In Space'' was a turning point for the Power Rangers franchise, as th ...
'' and ''
Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation'' had their crossover with the episode "Shell Shocked".
On October 4, 1997, the two Kids WB shows, ''Superman: The Animated Series'' and ''The New Batman Adventures'', had their first crossover with the TV movie ''World's Finest'', which was also released on DVD.
Another cartoon crossover would occur in 1990, ''
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue
''Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue'' is a 1990 American animated television film starring many characters from several animated television series at the time of its release. Financed by McDonald's, Ronald McDonald Children's Charities, it was or ...
''. This cartoon featured popular characters from children's Saturday morning cartoons, banding together to promote an anti-drug message.
ABC,
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
,
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
, and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
aired this half-hour special one Saturday morning with characters from all their networks, including
Huey, Dewey, and Louie
Huey, Dewey, and Louie are Multiple birth, triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist (screenwriter) Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro and are the nephews of Donald Duck and th ...
(from Disney's ''
DuckTales
''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series produced by Disney Television Animation. The original cartoon series premiered on syndication and on Disney Channel on September 18, 1987 and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four sea ...
''),
Winnie the Pooh
Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard.
The first collection of stories about the character w ...
,
Tigger
Tigger is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic stuffed tiger. He was originally introduced in the 1928 story collection '' The House at Pooh Corner'', the sequel to the 1926 book ''Winnie-the-Pooh'' by A. A. Milne. Like other Pooh char ...
, Slimer (from ''
The Real Ghostbusters
''The Real Ghostbusters'' is an American animated television series, a spin-off/sequel of the 1984 comedy film ''Ghostbusters''. The series ran from September 13, 1986, to October 5, 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television and DI ...
'' and ''Extreme Ghostbusters''), Michelangelo (from ''
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...
''), Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck,
Alvin and the Chipmunks,
the Smurfs
''The Smurfs'' (french: Les Schtroumpfs; nl, De Smurfen) is a Belgian comic franchise centered on a fictional colony of small, blue, humanoid creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. ''The Smurfs'' was first created and int ...
, ALF (from
his short-lived cartoon spinoff),
Garfield
''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976, then in nationwide syndication from 1978 as ''Garfield'', it chronicles the life of the title character Garfield the cat, his hum ...
, and the trio of
Baby Kermit,
Baby Piggy, and
Baby Gonzo (from Jim Henson's ''
Muppet Babies''). Animation companies granted unlimited, royalty-free use of their cartoon characters for this project, a feat that has been unequalled before or since. This cartoon was also introduced by then-
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
George H. W. Bush and
Barbara Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush (June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of President George H. W. Bush, and the founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. She previously w ...
, and would be distributed to schools and video stores free of charge nationwide.
Manga artist
Leiji Matsumoto
is a Japanese mangaka, creator of several anime and manga series. His wife Miyako Maki is also a manga artist.
Early life
Matsumoto was the middle child of a family of seven brothers, and, in his early childhood, Matsumoto was given a 35m ...
has been known to cross over the characters of his various stories and characters such as ''
Captain Harlock
is a fictional character and protagonist of the '' Space Pirate Captain Harlock'' manga series created by Leiji Matsumoto.
Harlock is the archetypical Romantic hero, a space pirate with an individualist philosophy of life. He is as noble as ...
'', ''
Galaxy Express 999
is a Japanese manga series. It is written and illustrated by Leiji Matsumoto, later adapted into a number of anime films and television series. It is set in a spacefaring, high-tech future in which humans have learned how to transfer ...
'', and ''
Queen Millennia
is a manga series by Leiji Matsumoto which was serialized from 28 January 1980
through 11 May 1983 in both the ''Sankei Shimbun'' and '' Nishinippon Sports'' newspapers. The manga series was adapted into a 42-episode anime television seri ...
'', all of which were originally written as separate, self-contained stories. In the ''
Maetel Legend'', Queen Promethium is revealed to be having been Yukino Yaoi, the protagonist from ''Queen Millennia''. Matsumoto has also created various crossovers with ''
Space Battleship Yamato
is a Japanese science fiction anime series produced and written by Yoshinobu Nishizaki, directed by manga artist Leiji Matsumoto, and produced by Academy Productions. The series aired in Yomiuri TV from October 6, 1974 to March 30, 1975 ...
'', an anime on which he served as director, although the rights to Yamato are actually owned by Yoshinobu Nishizaki.
The adult parody-oriented series ''
Drawn Together
''Drawn Together'' is an American adult animated sitcom created by Dave Jeser and Matt Silverstein and premiered on Comedy Central on October 27, 2004. The series is a parody of '' The Surreal Life'' and follows the misadventures of the housemat ...
'' features many crossovers; while some are regular cameos, such as
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
and
Lois Griffin
Lois Patrice Griffin (''née'' Pewterschmidt) is a fictional character from the animated television series '' Family Guy''. She is voiced by Alex Borstein and first appeared on television, along with the rest of the Griffin family, in a 15-min ...
from ''
Family Guy'', others involve a personality twist, such as the
homicidal
''Homicidal'' is a 1961 American horror-thriller film produced and directed by William Castle
William Castle (born William Schloss Jr.; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor.
Orph ...
version of
Bambi
''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten ...
from
the eponymous film or the
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
version of
Elmer Fudd from the ''
Looney Tunes'' franchise.
The Disney/Marvel crossover ''
Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel'' features the Marvel heroes
Spider-Man,
Iron Man, the
Hulk, and
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...
, the Marvel villains
Whiplash
Whiplash may refer to:
* The long flexible part of a whip
* Whiplash (medicine), a neck injury
** Whiplash Injury Protection System (WHIPS), in automobiles
Film and television
* ''Whiplash'' (1948 film), a US film noir about a boxer
* ''Whiplas ...
,
MODOK
MODOK (also written as M.O.D.O.K.; an acronym for Mental/Mobile/Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing) is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The first MODOK is George Tarleton, a former e ...
, the
Red Skull
The Red Skull is an alias used by several supervillains appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics and its predecessor Timely Comics. The first version, George Maxon, appeared in ''Captain America Comics'' #1 and #4. The main ...
, and
Venom
Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a st ...
, and characters from ''Phineas and Ferb'', where the storyline involves Phineas and Ferb trying to restore power to the Marvel heroes, whose powers were taken away by Doofenshmirtz.
During its 26th season, ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' had crossovers with ''
Family Guy'' and ''
Futurama''. In the hour-long ''
Family Guy'' season 13 premiere "
The Simpsons Guy", the Griffins met the Simpson family, who met the Planet Express crew in the ''Simpsons'' episode "
Simpsorama".
In the
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
series ''
House of Mouse
''Disney's House of Mouse'' (or simply ''House of Mouse'') is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation that originally aired for three seasons on ABC and Toon Disney from January 13, 2001, to its final ...
'',
Mickey Mouse and friends host a nightclub featuring cameos by other Disney characters.
Webtoons (animated shows from the internet) can also have crossovers with different webtoons, franchises, YouTubers and more. Some examples are when Kate from
TomSka
Thomas James Ridgewell (born 27 June 1990), known online as TomSka, is a British filmmaker, actor, content creator, and vlogger. He is known for writing, directing, producing, and starring in his live-action sketch comedy YouTube videos and an ...
's ''Crash Zoom'' series makes an appearance in ''
Eddsworld
''Eddsworld'' (capitalized as ''EDDSWORLD'' in the official title design) is a British Flash-animated web series created by Edd Gould. Since premiering on 20 December 2004, the series has been published through Newgrounds, DeviantArt, YouTube ...
'' as a trick or treater who possesses Matt and Edd in the episode, "Trick or Threat". In addition to this a couple of characters from ''Eddsworld'' make appearances in some ''Crash Zoom'' episodes such as "Orcs and Dorks". Another example is ''
Death Battle
Rooster Teeth Productions, LLC is an American digital media company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Founded in 2003 by Burnie Burns, Matt Hullum, Geoff Ramsey, Jason Saldaña, Gus Sorola, and Joel Heyman, Rooster Teeth is a subsidiary of Warner ...
'' which is a show where two hosts (Wiz and Boomstick) put two characters from different franchises together to battle each other. These characters range from television, movie, video game, or comic franchises. Shows like ''One Minute Melee'', ''Cartoon Fight Club'', and ''Death Battle Exhibitions'' (the spinoff series) have a similar format to ''Death Battle''.
The
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...
original series ''
Harvey Girls Forever'' is a crossover of the comics ''
Little Audrey'', ''
Little Dot'' and ''
Little Lotta
Little Lotta is a fictional character published by Harvey Comics from 1953 to 1972, and then sporadically until 1993. A contemporary of Little Audrey, Little Dot and Wendy the Good Little Witch, she was one of Harvey's best-known female characters ...
'', although later episodes in the third and fourth season are crossovers of
Richie Rich and
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a pleasant, personable and translucent ghost, but often criticized by his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio.
The ...
.
in the
Warner Bros. Animation
Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 19 ...
''
Looney Tunes''-based animated series ''
Animaniacs
''Animaniacs'' is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox Broadcasting Company's Fox Kids block in 1993, before moving to The WB in 1995, as part of its Kids' WB afternoon programming block, until ...
'', created by
Steven Spielberg and
Tom Ruegger
Tom Ruegger () is an American animator and songwriter. Ruegger is known for his association with Disney Television Animation and Warner Bros. Animation. He also created ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', ''Animaniacs'', ''Pinky and the Brain'', and ''Hist ...
, characters from its predecessor series ''
Tiny Toon Adventures
''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...
'' and its "
spin-off" series ''
Freakazoid!
''Freakazoid!'' is an American superhero comedy animated television series created by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini and developed by Tom Ruegger for the Kids' WB programming block of The WB. The series chronicles the adventures of the title characte ...
'' (two other cartoons based on the ''Looney Tunes'' created by Spielberg and Ruegger), as well as from the actual ''Looney Tunes'' shorts, often made crossover cameo appearances throughout the series (some of which are speaking); Similarly, characters from ''Animaniacs'' frequently crossed over into ''Freakazoid!'' through cameo appearances (again, some cameos are speaking).
Many characters from animated franchises have had crossover episodes, films and specials regardless of the canon of those media open to interpretation; see
Crossover animation.
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who ...
and
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
in
The Springfield Files.
The Famous Adventures of Mr. Magoo with
The Dick Tracy Show
''The Dick Tracy Show'' is an American animated television series based on Chester Gould's comic strip crime fighter. The series was produced from 1961 to 1962 by UPA.
In the show, policeman Dick Tracy employed a series of cartoony subordinat ...
.
Anime and manga
Anime has also participated in many crossover events featuring characters or shows from the same company or network. One of the biggest projects down would be
''Dream 9 Toriko x One Piece x Dragon Ball Z Super Special Collaboration'' as it includes three
''Shonen Jump'' franchises, being ''
Dragon Ball Z'', ''
One Piece
''One Piece'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda. It has been serialized in Shueisha's ''shōnen'' manga magazine '' Weekly Shōnen Jump'' since July 1997, with its individual cha ...
'', and ''
Toriko
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro. It follows the adventures of Toriko, a Gourmet Hunter, as he searches for rare, diverse foods to complete a full-course meal. On his journey, he is accompanied b ...
'', crossed over into an hour long special-like most crossovers, this special is filler, a fan-service episode that follows the common plot line in most crossovers. In the first half of the special, characters from the three franchises meet-up and fight. In the second half, they team up to battle a stronger foe. What makes this crossover unique is when the characters from all three shows split into groups, where the members all share the same clichéd character archetypes, such the main characters Goku, Luffy, and Toriko falling into the dumb, good-natured, strong character archetype.
''
Carnival Phantasm
is a comedy OVA series based on Eri Takenashi's Type-Moon gag manga, . It focuses on absurd situations happening to each characters of ''Fate/stay night'', ''Melty Blood'' and ''Tsukihime''. It is followed by a spiritual sequel known as '' ...
'' is also an OVA comedy series based on a ''
Type-Moon'' gag manga called Take-Moon. Created to celebrate the company's 10th anniversary, the anime consists of several funny and unusual scenarios involving various characters from the Type-Moon franchises. Some examples include characters from ''
Fate/stay night
''Fate/stay night'' is a Japanese visual novel developed by Type-Moon and originally released as an adult game for Windows on January 30, 2004. A version of ''Fate/stay night'' rated for ages 15 and up titled ''Fate/stay night Réalta ...
'' and ''
Tsukihime
is a Japanese adult visual novel created by the dōjin circle Type-Moon, who first released it at the Winter Comiket in December 2000. In 2003, it was adapted into both an anime television series, ''Lunar Legend Tsukihime'', animate ...
''.
The ''
Dragon Ball'' franchise is one of the most popular manga and anime in the world, and has its fair share of crossovers as well. The creator of the franchise,
Akira Toriyama, has used another character from a different manga series he created, Jaco from ''Jaco the Galactic Policeman'' as a reoccurring character in ''
Dragon Ball Super
is a Japanese manga series written by Akira Toriyama and illustrated by Toyotarou. A sequel to Toriyama's original Dragon Ball (manga), ''Dragon Ball'' manga, it follows the adventures of Goku and friends during the ten-year timeskip after ...
''. He comes to Earth to warn the characters about the return of Frieza and is later seen in the disputes involving Beerus and Champa.
''
Cyborg 009 VS Devilman
is a three-part anime OVA that serves as a crossover between the ''Cyborg 009'' and '' Devilman'' series. It was first screened on 17 October 2015 and was released on 11 November 2015. The series inspired a manga adaptation and a prequel ...
'' is a three part anime OVA that crosses over the ''
Cyborg 009
is a Japanese science fiction manga created by Shotaro Ishinomori. It was serialized in many different Japanese magazines, including '' Monthly Shōnen King'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'', '' Shōnen Big Comic'', ''COM'', ' ...
'' and ''
Devilman
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The manga focuses on a high school student named Akira Fudo who absorbs the powers of the demon called " Amon" with help of his friend Ryo Asuka in order to batt ...
'' series. It originally aired on 17 October 2015 and then was released on 11 November 2015 Netflix currently owns the rights to this title.
Other anime- or manga-based crossovers include: ''
Digimon Fusion
''Digimon Fusion'', known in Japan as , is the sixth anime television series in the ''Digimon'' franchise, produced by Toei Animation. The series was broadcast on TV Asahi and Asahi Broadcasting Corporation between July 2010 and March 2012.
I ...
'' and ''
Pokémon Journeys, Fairy Tail x Rave Master'', ''
Isekai Quartet
is a Japanese anime series that serves as a chibi-style crossover between the light novel series ''KonoSuba'', ''Overlord'', '' Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World'', and ''The Saga of Tanya the Evil'', all published by Kadokawa Corpo ...
'', ''It's a Rumic World: 50th Anniversary Weekly Shonen Sunday'', ''Kamen Rider Fourze x Crayon Shin-chan'', ''
Lupin III vs. Detective Conan: the Movie'', ''
Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle'', ''
Undersea Super Train: Marine Express'', and ''
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Bonds Beyond Time''.; see
Crossover anime and manga.
Film
![KK v G trailer (1962)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/KK_v_G_trailer_%281962%29.png)
The first film crossover in a series of
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
monster films was ''
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man
''Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man'' is a 1943 American horror film directed by Roy William Neill and starring Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. This was the first of a series of later called "monster rallie ...
'', in 1943. In 2003, ''
Freddy vs. Jason
''Freddy vs. Jason'' is a 2003 American slasher film directed by Ronny Yu and written by Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. It is a crossover between the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' and ''Friday the 13th'' series, being the eighth installment i ...
'' was released by
New Line Cinema
New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after ...
. In 2004,
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
released ''
Alien vs. Predator
''Alien vs. Predator'' (also known as ''Aliens versus Predator'' and ''AVP'') is a science-fiction action horror
media franchise created by comic book writers Randy Stradley and Chris Warner. The series is a crossover between, and part of, th ...
'' along with the sequel ''
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem'' in 2007. One year later, both ''
Dollman vs. Demonic Toys
''Dollman vs. Demonic Toys'' (on screen title being ''Dollman vs. the Demonic Toys'') is a 1993 American direct-to-video horror film. It is a continuation of three films released by Full Moon Features: '' Dollman'', ''Demonic Toys'' and ''Bad Cha ...
'' and ''
Puppet Master vs Demonic Toys
''Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys'' is a 2004 American horror-comedy film based on the characters of Charles Band and Kenneth J. Hall ('' Puppet Master'') and David S. Goyer (''Demonic Toys''). The film is written by C. Courtney Joyner and directed ...
'' were released by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
and Terry Kelley Studios. In 2015,
Sony
, commonly stylized as SONY, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. As a major technology company, it operates as one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer and professiona ...
released ''
Lake Placid vs. Anaconda''.
After the comics publishing house
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
ventured into
movie production
Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...
, they set off to produce solitary films with popular superheroes from the Avengers team, with characters from upcoming films making cameo appearances in films starring another superhero, leading up to the crossover film ''
The Avengers'' (2012). The same process was repeated for ''
Avengers: Age of Ultron'' (2015), ''
Avengers: Infinity War'' (2018), and ''
Avengers: Endgame'' (2019), and all the movies together form the
Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...
. Inspired by Marvel's success,
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
, who hold movie rights for
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
' heroes, announced the production of ''
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' (2016) and further plans to develop the cinematic
DC Extended Universe
The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films and television series produced by DC Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on characters that ...
, while
Paramount Pictures and
Entertainment One announced plans to create a cinematic universe on the
''Transformers'' film series.
There have been numerous crossovers in Japanese cinema. The boom of
kaiju films saw a lot of crossovers produced at
Toho Studios
is a Japanese film production company that is a subsidiary of Toho Co., Ltd. Founded in November 8, 1971 as , the company originally served as a spin-off of Toho's original production department, and produced over 160 films. In December 2020, ...
, with some of the monsters forming teams in numerous movies, much like the Marvel movie franchise.
Godzilla
is a fictional monster, or '' kaiju'', originating from a series of Japanese films. The character first appeared in the 1954 film '' Godzilla'' and became a worldwide pop culture icon, appearing in various media, including 32 films prod ...
,
Mothra
is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that first appeared in the 1961 film '' Mothra'', produced and distributed by Toho Studios. Mothra has appeared in several Toho ''tokusatsu'' films, most often as a recurring character in the ''Godzilla'' ...
and
Rodan
is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', which first appeared as the title character in Ishirō Honda's 1956 film '' Rodan'', produced and distributed by Toho. Following its debut standalone appearance, Rodan went on to be featured in numerous e ...
(Radon) each first appeared in standalone films before being set against each other or even teaming up against stronger enemies. Their first encounter was in 1964, first in ''
Mothra vs. Godzilla'' and a few months later of all three in ''
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster
is a 1964 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd., it is the fifth film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise, and was the second ''Godzilla'' film produced ...
''. In 1962,
Toho
is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...
released ''
King Kong vs. Godzilla
is a 1962 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Ishirō Honda, with special effects by Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the third film in both the ''Godzilla'' and ''King Kong'' franchises, as well as the first T ...
''. The long running
Zatoichi
is a fictional character created by Japanese novelist Kan Shimozawa. He is an itinerant blind masseur and swordsman of Japan's late Edo period (1830s and 1840s). He first appeared in the 1948 essay , part of Shimozawa's ''Futokoro Techō'' se ...
series sees
Shintaro Katsu
was a Japanese actor, singer, and filmmaker. He is known for starring in the ''Akumyo'' series, the ''Hoodlum Soldier'' series, and the ''Zatoichi'' series.
Life and career
Born Toshio Okumura (奥村 利夫 ''Okumura Toshio'') on 29 Novemb ...
's blind master swordsman face off with
Toshiro Mifune
was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 150 feature films. He is best known for his 16-film collaboration (1948–1965) with Akira Kurosawa in such works as ''Rashomon'', ''Seven Samurai'', ''The Hidden Fortress'', ''Throne of Blood'', and ' ...
in his iconic role in ''
Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo
is a 1970 Japanese drama film directed by Kihachi Okamoto.
It is the 20th of a series of films featuring the blind swordsman Zatoichi. The main character is based on a fictional character, a blind masseur and swordmaster. He was created by nov ...
'' (1970) and also features a unique cross-Asian project ''
Zatoichi and the One-Armed Swordsman
, also known as ''Zatoichi Meets the One-Armed Swordsman'' and ''The Blind Swordsman Meets His Equal'', is a 1971 Japanese-Hong Kong '' chambara'' / ''wuxia'' crossover by Japanese film director Kimiyoshi Yasuda and Chinese film director Hsu Tse ...
'' (1971). This coproduction sees
Jimmy Wang reprise his famous part of the ''
One-Armed Swordsman
''One-Armed Swordsman'' is a 1967 Hong Kong ''wuxia'' film produced by the Shaw Brothers Studio. Directed by Chang Cheh, it was the first of the new style of ''wuxia'' films emphasizing male anti-heroes, violent swordplay and heavy bloodletting ...
'' while featuring two different endings for both the Japanese and Hong Kong audiences; see
Crossover films.
Games
Crossovers in video games occur when otherwise separated
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life perso ...
s,
stories,
settings,
universe
The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. ...
s, or
media
Media may refer to:
Communication
* Media (communication), tools used to deliver information or data
** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising
** Broadcast media, communications delivered over mass e ...
in a
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
meet and interact with each other. These can range from a character simply appearing as a
playable character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not contr ...
or
boss
Boss may refer to:
Occupations
* Supervisor, often referred to as boss
* Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier
* Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization
* Fire boss, ...
in the game, as a special guest character, or a major crossover where two or more franchises encounter.
''
Konami
, is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...
'' made the first crossover video game featuring
Simon Belmont
is a fictional character who serves as the first protagonist to appear in the ''Castlevania'' series. He appears in ''Castlevania'', '' Vampire Killer'', '' Haunted Castle'', '' Castlevania II: Simon's Quest'', ''Super Castlevania IV'', and ''Cas ...
from ''
Castlevania'',
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...
'
King Kong
King Kong is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. He has been dubbed The Eighth Wonder of the World, a phrase commonly used within the franchise. His first appearance was in the novelizat ...
and Mikey from the Warner Bros. movie ''
The Goonies
''The Goonies'' is a 1985 American adventure comedy film co-produced and directed by Richard Donner from a screenplay by Chris Columbus, based on a story by Steven Spielberg. In the film, kids who live in the "Goon Docks" neighborhood of Astor ...
'' in ''
Konami Wai Wai World'' for the Famicom in 1988. ''
The King of Fighters
''The King of Fighters'' (''KOF'') is a series of fighting games by SNK that began with the release of '' The King of Fighters '94'' in 1994. The series was developed originally for SNK's Neo Geo MVS arcade hardware. This served as the main p ...
'', ''
Marvel vs. Capcom'', and many other franchises from third-party developers such as
Capcom and
SNK
is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...
bring these licenses together.
The
2.5D
2.5D (two-and-a-half dimensional) perspective refers to gameplay or movement in a video game or virtual reality environment that is restricted to a two-dimensional (2D) plane with little to no access to a third dimension in a space that other ...
fighting game series ''
Super Smash Bros.'' brings various
Nintendo characters together and allow players to fight against each other as these characters in arenas. The third game in the series, ''
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'' is a 2008 crossover fighting video game developed by Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Wii. The third installment in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, it was announced at a pre-E3 2005 press conferenc ...
'' introduced two third-party characters with the inclusion of
Solid Snake and
Sonic the Hedgehog, of
Konami
, is a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company headquartered in Chūō, Tokyo, it also produces and distributes trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, pachinko machines, slot machines, and arcade cabinets. Konami has casino ...
's ''
Metal Gear
is a series of techno-thriller stealth games created by Hideo Kojima. Developed and published by Konami, the first game, ''Metal Gear'', was released in 1987 for MSX home computers. The player often takes control of a special forces operativ ...
'' series and
Sega's ''
Sonic the Hedgehog'' series respectively. The fourth installments,
''Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS'' and ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U'', feature characters from the third-party franchises of Capcom's ''
Mega Man'' (
Mega Man) and ''
Street Fighter
, commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...
'' (
Ryu), Sega's ''
Bayonetta
is a series of action-adventure games created by Hideki Kamiya and developed by PlatinumGames. The franchise was introduced in 2009 with '' Bayonetta''. Two sequels were released, ''Bayonetta 2'' (2014) and ''Bayonetta 3'' (2022), as well as a ...
'' (
Bayonetta
is a series of action-adventure games created by Hideki Kamiya and developed by PlatinumGames. The franchise was introduced in 2009 with '' Bayonetta''. Two sequels were released, ''Bayonetta 2'' (2014) and ''Bayonetta 3'' (2022), as well as a ...
), Bandai Namco's ''
Pac-Man'' (
Pac-Man), and Square Enix's ''
Final Fantasy
is a Japanese video game, Japanese science fantasy anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and developed and owned by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and ...
'' (
Cloud Strife
is a character (arts), fictional character and the main protagonist of Square (video game company), Square's (now Square Enix's) 1997 role-playing video game ''Final Fantasy VII'', its Final Fantasy VII Remake, high-definition remake, and seve ...
), in addition to other Nintendo characters from the company's different universes. The fifth installment, ''
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' is a 2018 crossover fighting video game developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd. and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. It is the fifth installment in the '' Super Smash Bros.'' series, succeed ...
'' also introduced
Simon
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
and
Richter Belmont
Listed below are characters from all of the ''Castlevania'' video games in the order of their introduction and the game's release.
''Castlevania'' and ''Simon's Quest''
Dracula
The main antagonist of the ''Castlevania'' series is , based on ...
from Konami's ''
Castlevania'' series,
Ken Masters
, originally spelled in kanji as with his original full name being unknown, is a fictional character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series. Ken is the best friend and rival of Ryu, who has also appeared in all ''Street Fighter'' games. Ken's g ...
from Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series,
Joker from ''
Persona 5
is a 2016 role-playing video game developed by Atlus. It takes place in modern-day Tokyo and follows a high school student known by the pseudonym Joker who transfers to a new school after being falsely accused of assault and put on probation ...
'', the Hero from the ''
Dragon Quest'' series, Banjo-Kazooie from the ''
Banjo-Kazooie'' series,
Terry Bogard
is a video game character created by SNK as the protagonist of their ''Fatal Fury'' series. Introduced in '' Fatal Fury: King of Fighters'' in 1991, he is an American fighter who enters the worldwide "The King of Fighters" tournaments to comba ...
from the ''
Fatal Fury
''Fatal Fury'', known as in Japan, is a fighting game series developed by SNK for the Neo Geo system.
Games
Canon
* '' Fatal Fury'' – The first game of the ''Fatal Fury'' series allowed players to select one of three characters, Terr ...
'' series,
Steve from ''
Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java (programming language), Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made pub ...
'',
Sephiroth from ''
Final Fantasy VII'',
Kazuya Mishima
is a fictional character in Bandai Namco's ''Tekken'' fighting game series, first featured as the protagonist in the original 1994 game and later became one of the major antagonists and antihero of the series. The son of worldwide conglomerate ...
from the ''
Tekken'' series, and
Sora from ''
Kingdom Hearts'' in addition to bringing back all of the playable characters from the previous entries in the series.
The
Namco
was a Japanese multinational video game and entertainment company, headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo. It held several international branches, including Namco America in Santa Clara, California, Namco Europe in London, Namco Taiwan in Kaohsiung, ...
-developed ''
Soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...
'' series features characters from a variety of other franchises including
Link from Nintendo's ''
The Legend of Zelda
''The Legend of Zelda'' is an action-adventure game franchise created by the Japanese game designers Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. It is primarily developed and published by Nintendo, although some portable installments and re-rele ...
'' series,
Heihachi Mishima
is a fictional character of Bandai Namco's ''Tekken'' fighting game series, serving as its main antagonist. Introduced as the boss character from the first ''Tekken'' video game from 1994, Heihachi appears as the leader of a military firm know ...
from ''
Tekken'',
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic book creator, artist, writer, filmmaker and entrepreneur, best known for his work as the artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horro ...
's
Spawn
Spawn or spawning may refer to:
* Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise
** '' Spawn: ...
,
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...
,
Yoda
Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' universe, first appearing in the 1980 film ''The Empire Strikes Back''. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force and is a leading member of the Jedi Order until it ...
, and
Starkiller
Starkiller, born Galen Marek and also known as The Apprentice, is the fictional protagonist of the '' Star Wars: The Force Unleashed'' video games and literature, part of the now non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' expanded universe; however, ...
from ''
Star Wars'',
Lloyd Irving
is an action role-playing game released for the Nintendo GameCube on August 29, 2003, in Japan. It was published by Namco and is the fifth core product of the ''Tales'' series. The game was localized and released in North America on July 13, ...
from ''
Tales of Symphonia'',
Ubisoft Montreal
Ubisoft Divertissements Inc., doing business as Ubisoft Montreal, is a Canadian video game developer and a studio of Ubisoft based in Montreal.
The studio was founded in April 1997 as part of Ubisoft's growth into worldwide markets, with sub ...
's Ezio Auditore from the ''
Assassin's Creed'' series,
Geralt of Rivia
Geralt of Rivia ( pl, Geralt z Rivii) is a fictional character and the protagonist of ''The Witcher'' series of short stories and novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. He is a magically enhanced monster-hunter known as a "witcher", who posse ...
from
Andrzej Sapkowski
Andrzej Sapkowski (; born 21 June 1948) is a Polish fantasy writer, essayist, translator and a trained economist. He is best known for his six-volume series of books '' The Witcher'', which revolves around the eponymous "witcher," a monster-hun ...
's ''
The Witcher
''The Witcher'' ( pl, Wiedźmin ) is a series of six fantasy novels and 15 short stories written by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski. The series revolves around the eponymous "witcher", Geralt of Rivia. In Sapkowski's works, "witchers" are be ...
'', YoRHa No. 2 Type B from
Yoko Taro
is a Japanese video game director and scenario writer. Starting his career at the now-defunct game company Cavia, his best-known work was on the action role-playing video game series '' Drakengard'', and its spin-offs, '' Nier'' and '' Nier ...
and
PlatinumGames
PlatinumGames Inc. is a Japanese video game developer that was founded in October 2007 as result of a merger between two companies, Seeds Inc. and Odd Inc. Shinji Mikami, Atsushi Inaba, and Hideki Kamiya founded Seeds Inc. after the closure o ...
' ''
Nier: Automata'', and Haohmaru from
SNK
is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. It is the successor to the company Shin Nihon Kikaku and presently owns the SNK video game brand and the Neo Geo video game platform. SNK's predecessor Shin Nihon Kikaku was founded in 1978 ...
's ''
Samurai Shodown
''Samurai Shodown'', known in Japan as is a fighting game series by SNK. The series began in 1993 and is known for being one of the earliest in the genre with a primary focus on weapon-based combat.
Plot
The stories in the series take place ...
''.
''
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games'', released in Japan two months before ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl'', was the first time that
Mario
is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cre ...
and Sonic (as well as their associated characters) appeared in a game together.
The ''
Kingdom Hearts'' series of role-playing games developed by
Square Enix features a number of characters from
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
and
Square Enix.
Starting with ''
Mortal Kombat'', video game developer
NetherRealm Studios
NetherRealm Studios (stylized as NetheЯRealm Studios) is an American video game developer based in Chicago and owned by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. Led by video game industry veteran and ''Mortal Kombat'' co-creator Ed Boon, the s ...
has guest characters ranging from ''Mortal Kombat'' veterans
Scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always en ...
,
Sub-Zero and
Raiden to
Freddy Krueger
Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the primary antagonist in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' film series. He was created by Wes Craven and made his debut in Craven's '' A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit ...
from ''
A Nightmare on Elm Street
''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' is a 1984 American supernatural slasher film written and directed by Wes Craven and produced by Robert Shaye. It is the first installment in the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' franchise and stars Heather Langenka ...
'',
Jason Voorhees
Jason Voorhees () is a character from the ''Friday the 13th'' series. He first appeared in '' Friday the 13th'' (1980) as the young son of camp-cook-turned-killer Mrs. Voorhees, in which he was portrayed by Ari Lehman. Created by Victor Mi ...
from ''
Friday the 13th'',
Leatherface
Leatherface is a fictional character in ''The Texas Chainsaw Massacre'' film series created by Kim Henkel and Tobe Hooper. He first appears in '' The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' as a disfigured, cannibalistic and mentally unstable mass murdere ...
from ''
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
''The Texas Chain Saw Massacre'' is a 1974 American horror film produced and directed by Tobe Hooper from a story and screenplay by Hooper and Kim Henkel. It stars Marilyn Burns, Paul A. Partain, Edwin Neal, Jim Siedow and Gunnar Hansen, ...
'',
The Xenomorph from ''
Alien'',
The Predator from ''
Predator
Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill th ...
'', the
T-800 from ''
Terminator
Terminator may refer to:
Science and technology
Genetics
* Terminator (genetics), the end of a gene for transcription
* Terminator technology, proposed methods for restricting the use of genetically modified plants by causing second generation s ...
'',
John Rambo from ''
Rambo
Rambo is a surname with Norwegian (Vestfold) and Swedish origins. It possibly originated with '' ramn'' + '' bo'', meaning "raven's nest". It has variants in French (''Rambeau'', ''Rambaut'', and ''Rimbaud'') and German (''Rambow''). It is now best ...
'',
RoboCop from ''
RoboCop,''
Kratos from ''
God of War
A war god in mythology associated with war, combat, or bloodshed. They occur commonly in both monotheistic and polytheistic religions.
Unlike most gods and goddesses in polytheistic religions, monotheistic deities have traditionally been p ...
'',
The Joker
The Joker is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, and first appeared in the debut issue of the comic book '' Batman'' on April 25, 1 ...
from ''
Batman'', all four
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' is an American media franchise created by the comic book artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. It follows Leonardo, Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael, four anthropomorphic turtle brothers (named after It ...
,
Todd McFarlane
Todd McFarlane (; born March 16, 1961) is a Canadian comic book creator, artist, writer, filmmaker and entrepreneur, best known for his work as the artist on ''The Amazing Spider-Man'' and as the creator, writer, and artist on the superhero horro ...
's
Spawn
Spawn or spawning may refer to:
* Spawn (biology), the eggs and sperm of aquatic animals
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Spawn (character), a fictional character in the comic series of the same name and in the associated franchise
** '' Spawn: ...
and
Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola (; born September 16, 1960) is an American comics artist and writer best known for creating ''Hellboy'' for Dark Horse Comics, part of a shared universe of titles including ''B.P.R.D.'', '' Abe Sapien'', '' Lobster Johnson'', '' Wit ...
's
Hellboy
Hellboy is a fictional superhero created by writer-artist Mike Mignola. The character first appeared in ''San Diego Comic-Con Comics'' #2 (August 1993), and has since appeared in various eponymous miniseries, one-shots and intercompany crossover ...
.
''
Super Robot Wars
''Super Robot Wars'', known in Japan as is a series of tactical role-playing video games produced by Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Banpresto. Starting out as a spinoff of the '' Compati Hero'' series, the main feature of the franchise ...
'' are turn-based strategy games featuring a variety of Japanese
mecha
In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japanese is ...
series from many generations, such as ''
Mazinger Z
is a Japanese super robot manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The first manga version was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from October 1972 to August 1973, and it later was reissued in Kodansha ''TV Magazin ...
'', ''
Gundam
is a Japanese military fiction media franchise. Created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Sunrise (now Bandai Namco Filmworks), the franchise features giant robots, or mecha, with the name "Gundam". The franchise began on April 7, 1979, with ''Mobile ...
'', ''
Neon Genesis Evangelion'', and ''
GaoGaiGar''.
''
Warriors Orochi
is a hack and slash video game for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, developed by Koei and Omega Force. It is a crossover of two of Koei's popular video game series, ''Dynasty Warriors'' and '' Samurai Warriors'' (specifically ''Dynasty Warriors 5'' a ...
'' is the game that features the casts of both the ''
Dynasty Warriors
is a series of Japanese hack and slash action video games created by Omega Force and Koei (now is Koei Tecmo). The series is a spin-off of Koei's turn-based strategy '' Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' series, based upon the Chinese novel of ...
'' and ''
Samurai Warriors
is the first title in the series of hack and slash video games created by Koei's Omega Force team based closely around the Sengoku ("Warring States") period of Japanese history and it is a sister series of the ''Dynasty Warriors'' series, relea ...
'' series. The
third installment of this series included a number of playable characters from other
Koei Tecmo
is a Japanese video game, amusement and anime holding company created in 2009 by the merger of Koei and Tecmo. Koei Tecmo Holdings owns several companies, the biggest one of those being its flagship game developer and publisher Koei Tecmo Games ...
properties, such as ''
Ninja Gaiden
is a series of action video games by Tecmo featuring the ninja Ryu Hayabusa as its protagonist. The series was originally known as in Japan. The word "gaiden" in the North American ''Ninja Gaiden'' title means "side story" in Japanese. The o ...
'', ''
Dead or Alive'', ''
Zill O'll'', and
Sophitia Alexandra from Bandai Namco's ''Soul'' series. ''
Warriors All-Stars
''Warriors All-Stars'', (or in Japan) is a hack and slash video game by Koei Tecmo. It is a crossover based on the long-running '' Warriors'' series, featuring an array of cast taken from various titles owned by the company, similar to the ''War ...
'' similarly crossed-over a number of characters from Koei Tecmo series.
Video game developer Capcom has frequently developed crossover fighting games featuring their own characters and those of another IP holder, including ''
Marvel vs. Capcom'', ''
SNK vs. Capcom'', ''
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom'', and ''
Street Fighter X Tekken''.
''
Heroes of the Storm
''Heroes of the Storm'' is a crossover multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment. It was released for Microsoft Windows and macOS on June 2, 2015. The game features various characters from Bl ...
'' is an example of the major crossover video game which is developed and published by
Blizzard Entertainment
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, Inc. by three gradu ...
. This
hero brawler brings various Blizzard's characters together as playable heroes, as well as different battlegrounds based on ''
Warcraft
''Warcraft'' is a franchise of video games, novels, and other media created by Blizzard Entertainment. The series is made up of five core games: '' Warcraft: Orcs & Humans'', '' Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness'', '' Warcraft III: Reign of Chao ...
'', ''
Diablo'', ''
StarCraft'', and ''
Overwatch
''Overwatch'' is a multimedia franchise centered on a series of online multiplayer first-person shooter (FPS) video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment: '' Overwatch'' released in 2016, and ''Overwatch 2'' released in 2022. Both games f ...
'' universes.
Perhaps one of the most notable video game crossovers is ''
Lego Dimensions'' which makes use of over 30 different franchises, including DC Comics, ''
Doctor Who'', ''
The Lego Movie
''The Lego Movie'' is a 2014 computer-animated adventure comedy film written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller from a story by Lord, Miller, and Dan and Kevin Hageman. Based on the Lego line of construction toys, its story focu ...
'', ''
The Lord of the Rings
''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's b ...
'', ''
Sonic the Hedgehog'', and more.
A large number of video game characters make
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
s in the Disney
computer-animated film
A computer-animated film is a feature film that has been computer-animated to appear three-dimensional. While traditional 2D animated films are now made primarily with the help of computers, the technique to render realistic 3D computer graphics ...
''
Wreck-It Ralph
''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a 2012 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 52nd Disney animated feature film, it was directed by Rich Moore (in his feature director ...
'' and
its sequel.
Literature
![Ile Mysterieuse 02](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Ile_Mysterieuse_02.jpg)
In
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
, some authors also engage in crossovers by including characters from different novels they have written in one; see
Crossover novels.
The first popular crossover in literature was the 1885
Mark Twain novel, ''
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' or as it is known in more recent editions, ''The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'', is a novel by American author Mark Twain, which was first published in the United Kingdom in December 1884 and in the United St ...
'', which had an important guest appearance by
Tom Sawyer
Thomas Sawyer () is the titular character of the Mark Twain novel ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876). He appears in three other novels by Twain: '' Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884), '' Tom Sawyer Abroad'' (1894), and '' Tom Sawyer, ...
. Similarly, Lady Glencora Palliser from the Pallisers series of
Anthony Trollope appears towards the end of ''
Miss Mackenzie'', a novel published between the first and second Palliser novels in 1865, a character first introduced in the novel, ''
Can You Forgive Her?
''Can You Forgive Her?'' is a novel by Anthony Trollope, first published in serial form in 1864 and 1865. It is the first of six novels in the Palliser series, also known as the Parliamentary Novels.
The novel follows three parallel stories o ...
'' (1864).
Andrew Lang
Andrew Lang (31 March 1844 – 20 July 1912) was a Scottish poet, novelist, literary critic, and contributor to the field of anthropology. He is best known as a collector of folk and fairy tales. The Andrew Lang lectures at the University o ...
's 1890 collection, ''Old Friends: Essays in Epistolary Parody'', contains letters combining characters from different sources, including one based on
Jane Austen's ''
Northanger Abbey
''Northanger Abbey'' () is a coming-of-age novel and a satire of Gothic novels written by Jane Austen. Austen was also influenced by Charlotte Lennox's '' The Female Quixote'' (1752). ''Northanger Abbey'' was completed in 1803, the first of ...
'' and
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë (, commonly ; 21 April 1816 – 31 March 1855) was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood and whose novels became classics of English literature.
She enlisted i ...
's ''
Jane Eyre
''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...
''.
Kim Newman
Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula'' at ...
frequently uses this device, as does
Stephen King. The works of
James Branch Cabell
James Branch Cabell (; April 14, 1879 – May 5, 1958) was an American author of fantasy fiction and ''belles-lettres''. Cabell was well-regarded by his contemporaries, including H. L. Mencken, Edmund Wilson, and Sinclair Lewis. His work ...
,
J.D. Salinger
Jerome David Salinger (; January 1, 1919 January 27, 2010) was an American author best known for his 1951 novel ''The Catcher in the Rye''. Salinger got his start in 1940, before serving in World War II, by publishing several short stories in ''S ...
,
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most o ...
,
Margaret Laurence
Jean Margaret Laurence (née Wemyss; July 18, 1926 – January 5, 1987) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-pr ...
,
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon Jr. ( , ; born May 8, 1937) is an American novelist noted for his dense and complex novels. His fiction and non-fiction writings encompass a vast array of subject matter, genres and themes, including history, music, scie ...
,
Kurt Vonnegut
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...
,
Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are '' The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and '' Barney's Version'' (1997). His 1970 novel '' St. Urbain's Horseman'' and 1989 novel ...
,
Edgar Rice Burroughs,
Robert Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinlein (; July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accu ...
, and
Isaac Asimov also cross over with each other, linking different characters and settings together over a number of different works. Author
Rick Riordan
Richard Russell Riordan Junior (; born June 5, 1964) is an American author, best known for writing the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. Riordan's books have been translated into forty-two languages and sold more than thirty million co ...
publishes multiple book series featuring gods of ancient civilizations in the modern day, which have had two crossovers and three references to other series. Science fiction writer
Poul Anderson
Poul William Anderson (November 25, 1926 – July 31, 2001) was an American fantasy and science fiction author who was active from the 1940s until the 21st century. Anderson wrote also historical novels. His awards include seven Hugo Awards and ...
allowed fellow writer
A. Bertram Chandler to "borrow" Anderson's space-faring character
Dominic Flandry
Dominic Flandry is a fictional character and the protagonist of the second half of Poul Anderson's Technic History science fiction series. He first appeared in 1951.
The space opera series is set in the 31st century, during the waning days of ...
and let Flandry meet with Chandler's
John Grimes in a common adventure (the two fail to like each other).
Alex Scarrow featured the characters Cato and Macro from his brother
Simon
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
's ''
Eagles of the Empire'' series in one book of the ''
TimeRiders'' series: ''Gates of Rome'' (2012), serving as supporting characters when the three protagonists
travel back in time to
Ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
.
Brazilian writer
Monteiro Lobato also created solid and imaginative crossovers, using elements and characters from Brazilian folklore such as the
Cuca and
Saci, from
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...
, from the ''
Arabian Nights'', from fairy tales such as Grimm's "
Snow White
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...
", Western literature such as
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
, cartoons such as ''
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.[Felix the Cat
Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he was one of the most recognized cartoon characte ...](_blank)
'', and Western films.
Illustrator
Howard Pyle
Howard Pyle (March 5, 1853 – November 9, 1911) was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. He was a native of Wilmington, Delaware, and he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.
In 1894, he began ...
conceived his work ''Twilight Land'' as one such crossover. In it, a nameless narrator is transported to "Twilight Land" and meets famous fairy tale characters for a soirée in an inn:
Mother Goose
The figure of Mother Goose is the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. As a character, she appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as a nursery rhyme. This, howeve ...
,
Cinderella
"Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...
,
Fortunatus,
Sinbad the Sailor
Sinbad the Sailor (; ar, سندباد البحري, Sindibādu al-Bahriyy; fa, سُنباد بحری, Sonbād-e Bahri or Sindbad) is a fictional mariner and the hero of a story-cycle of Persian origin. He is described as hailing from Baghdad ...
,
Aladdin,
Boots
A boot is a type of footwear.
Boot or Boots may also refer to:
Businesses
* Boot Inn, Chester, Cheshire, England
* Boots (company), a high-street pharmacy chain and manufacturer of pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom
* The Boot, Cromer St ...
, the
Valiant Little Tailor, and others gather in the framing device and tell each other adventurous tales featuring other literary personages.
French author
Jules Lemaître
François Élie Jules Lemaître (27 April 1853 – 4 August 1914) was a French critic and dramatist.
Biography
Lemaître was born in Vennecy, Loiret. He became a professor at the University of Grenoble in 1883, but was already well known for his ...
wrote a sort of sequel to ''Cinderella'', named ''Princess Mimi'', where Cinderella's daughter is courted by
Polyphemus
Polyphemus (; grc-gre, Πολύφημος, Polyphēmos, ; la, Polyphēmus ) is the one-eyed giant son of Poseidon and Thoosa in Greek mythology, one of the Cyclopes described in Homer's ''Odyssey''. His name means "abounding in songs and leg ...
and
Charles Perrault's ''
Hop-o'-My-Thumb
Hop-o'-My-Thumb (Hop-on-My-Thumb), or Hop o' My Thumb, also known as Little Thumbling, Little Thumb, or Little Poucet (french: Le petit Poucet), is one of the eight fairytales published by Charles Perrault in ''Histoires ou Contes du temps pass ...
''.
Irish novelist and author
Padraic Colum
Padraic Colum (8 December 1881 – 11 January 1972) was an Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer, playwright, children's author and collector of folklore. He was one of the leading figures of the Irish Literary Revival.
Early life
Col ...
reworked several Irish myths in his book ''
The King of Ireland's Son
''The King of Ireland's Son'' is a children's novel published in Ireland in 1916 written by Padraic Colum, and illustrated by Willy Pogany. It is the story of the eldest of the King of Ireland's sons, and his adventures winning and then finding ...
'' to create a complex narrative, many of them corresponding to tale types in the
Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index. In the first segment, ''Fedelma, the Enchanter's Daughter'', the oldest son of the King of Ireland loses a wager against his father's enemy and is ordered to find him a year and a day's time. With the help of an eagle, the prince spies three
swan maidens descending to bathe in a lake and hides the feather cloak of the youngest, Fedelma, promising to return it once she direct him to her father's kingdom. After arriving at the kingdom of the Enchanter of the Black Back-Lands, the wizard forced the prince to fulfill three difficult tasks, which he accomplishes with Fedelma's magical help (tale type ATU 313, "The Magical Flight" or ''
The Master Maid
"The Master Maid" is a Norwegian fairy tale collected by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe in their '' Norske Folkeeventyr''. "Master" indicates "superior, skilled." Jørgen Moe wrote the tale down from the storyteller Anne Godlid in ...
''). In the chapter ''The Unique Tale'', a story is told about a queen who wished for a blue-eyed, blonde-haired daughter, and carelessly wished her sons to "go with the wild geese". As soon as the daughter (named ''Sheen'', 'Storm') is born, the seven princes change into gray wild geese and fly away from the castle (ATU 451, "The Maiden Who Seeks her Brothers" or ''
The Six Swans
"The Six Swans" (German: ''Die sechs Schwäne'') is a German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' in 1812 (KHM 49). It is of Aarne–Thompson type 451 ("The Maiden Who Seeks Her Brothers"), commonly found throu ...
''). It is later revealed that Sheen changed her name to ''Caintigern'' and became Queen when she married the King of Ireland, who, in turn, is the father of two of the main characters: the King of Ireland's Son and Gilly of the Goatskin (''
Gilla Na Chreck An Gour'').
Public domain
It is also common for authors to 'crossover' characters who have passed into the public domain, and thus do not require copyright or royalty payments for their use in other works. ''
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (''LoEG'') is a comic book series (inspired by the 1960 British film ''The League of Gentlemen'') co-created by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill which began in 1999. The series spans four vol ...
'' by
Alan Moore
Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...
and
Kevin O'Neill is another example of this, as all of the main characters and most of the secondary / background characters are fictional characters whose copyright has expired, and all are characters of different authors and creators brought together within one massive extended universe. Many of the works of
Philip José Farmer
Philip José Farmer (January 26, 1918 – February 25, 2009) was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories.
Obituary.
Farmer is best known for his sequences of novels, especially the ''World of Tiers ...
's
Wold Newton family
The Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of crossover fiction developed by the American science fiction writer Philip José Farmer.
Origins
In real life a meteorite, called the Wold Cottage meteorite, fell near Wold Ne ...
sequences (which has also been explored and developed by other authors) also utilize and interweave numerous otherwise unrelated fictional characters into a rich family history by speculating familial connections between them (such as a blood-relationship between
Sherlock Holmes and
Tarzan
Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...
).
Roger Zelazny
Roger Joseph Zelazny (May 13, 1937 – June 14, 1995) was an American poet and writer of fantasy and science fiction short stories and novels, best known for ''The Chronicles of Amber''. He won the Nebula Award three times (out of 14 nomin ...
's novel ''
A Night in the Lonesome October
''A Night in the Lonesome October'' is a novel by American writer Roger Zelazny published in 1993, near the end of his life. It was his last book, and one of his five personal favorites.
The book is divided into 32 chapters, each representing on ...
'' combines Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Frankenstein, Jack the Ripper, and the Cthulhu Mythos, although he never specifically identifies them as such ("The Count", "The Good Doctor", "Jack", etc.).
Occasionally, authors will include into crossovers classic fictional characters whose copyright is still held by the original authors (or at least their estates), but who are nevertheless considered iconic or 'mythic' enough to be recognised from a few character traits or descriptions without being directly named (thus not requiring royalties payments to be made to the copyright holder). A prominent example occurs within ''
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One
''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume One'' is a comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, published under the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics in the United States and under Vertigo in t ...
'', wherein a character who is clearly intended in appearance and description by other characters to be Dr.
Fu Manchu
Dr. Fu Manchu () is a supervillain who was introduced in a series of novels by the English author Sax Rohmer beginning shortly before World War I and continuing for another forty years. The character featured in cinema, television, radio, com ...
appears as a significant villain; however, as this character was not in the public domain at the time of writing and the rights still held by the estate of his creator
Sax Rohmer
Arthur Henry "Sarsfield" Ward (15 February 1883 – 1 June 1959), better known as Sax Rohmer, was an English novelist. He is best remembered for his series of novels featuring the master criminal Dr. Fu Manchu."Rohmer, Sax" by Jack Adrian in Da ...
, he is not directly named as such in the work and is only referred to as 'the Devil Doctor'. Something similar occurs in ''
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier'', wherein a character named "
Jimmy" is clearly intended to be
Ian Fleming's character
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
, though here he is satirized as being an inept and unfavorable antagonist, likely to parody
Sean Connery's appearance in the 2003
film adaptation. Another example in ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' is when a character is named to be the Anti-Christ, yet, despite never being named, is shown to be an evil
Harry Potter.
The TV show ''
Once Upon a Time
"Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in t ...
'' is set in a world in which all
fairy tales coexist, including
Snow White
"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...
,
Little Red Riding Hood
"Little Red Riding Hood" is a European fairy tale about a young girl and a sly wolf. Its origins can be traced back to several pre-17th century European folk tales. The two best known versions were written by Charles Perrault and the Brot ...
, and even
Alice in Wonderland. (As a production of
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
, copyrighted elements from that company's productions have appeared in ''Once Upon a Time''.) The
''Shrek'' film series is built on the same concept, and even includes references to then-copyrighted elements like
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
(often in the form of
satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...
).
Television series
Between established shows
Crossovers involving principals can also occur when the characters have no prior relationship, but are related by time period, locale or profession. The ''Law and Order'' series, for example, afford a commonality of setting and profession which lends itself to crossovers, both within the franchise and in a wider universe. ''Law & Order: SVU'' has crossed over several times with ''Chicago P.D.'' and ''Chicago Fire'', as well as sharing a common character with ''Homicide: Life on the Street''. ''NCIS'' has crossed over with ''NCIS: Los Angeles'', ''NCIS: New Orleans'' and ''JAG'', while ''NCIS: Los Angeles'' has crossed over with both ''Scorpion'' and ''Hawaii Five-0''. Following the cancellation of the
ABC soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
One Life to Live'' and its high-rated finale, several characters crossed over into the network's remaining soap opera ''
General Hospital'', remaining in the same timeline as their former show.
The ''CSI'' franchise is another common example of the crossover phenomena, with the original series crossing over with ''CSI: Miami'', ''CSI: Cyber'', ''CSI: NY'' and ''Without a Trace''. ''CSI: NY'' crossed over with fellow CBS series ''Cold Case'', and
Ted Danson
Edward Bridge "Ted" Danson III (born December 29, 1947) is an American actor. He achieved stardom playing the lead character Sam Malone on the NBC sitcom ''Cheers'', for which he received two Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. ...
appeared as a regular on both ''CSI'' and ''Cyber''. Similarly, ''
Family Guy'' has crossed over with ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'', while ''The Simpsons'' has crossed over with ''
Futurama''. ''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who ...
'' has in turn crossed over with ''
Millennium
A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...
'', ''
Homicide: Life on the Street'', ''
The Lone Gunmen
The Lone Gunmen are a trio of fictional characters, Richard "Ringo" Langly, Melvin Frohike and John Fitzgerald Byers, who appeared in recurring roles on the American television series ''The X-Files'', and who starred in the short-lived spin-of ...
'' and ''
Cops''. A proposed crossover with ''
The West Wing
''The West Wing'' is an American serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White Hous ...
'' was planned, but was never produced.
''
The Beverly Hillbillies
''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family f ...
'', ''
Green Acres'', and ''
Petticoat Junction
''Petticoat Junction'' is an American television sitcom that originally aired on CBS from September 1963 to April 1970. The series takes place at the Shady Rest Hotel, which is run by Kate Bradley; her three daughters Billie Jo, Bobbie Jo, and ...
'' shared a common universe, so crossovers were not uncommon. ''
Doctor Who'' and ''
Torchwood
''Torchwood'' is a British science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect its growin ...
'' both take place in the same universe and have had multiple crossovers, including Torchwood characters appearing in "
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the Doctor Who (series 4), fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. It was first broadcast on BBC One ...
" and "
Journey's End
''Journey's End'' is a 1928 dramatic play by English playwright R. C. Sherriff, set in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, towards the end of the First World War. The story plays out in the officers' dugout of a British Army infantry c ...
". ''Torchwood''s
first series finale ends with the materialisation sound of the
TARDIS
The TARDIS (; acronym for "Time And Relative Dimension In Space") is a fictional hybrid of the time machine and spacecraft that appears in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'' and its various spin-offs. Its exterior a ...
seen in ''Doctor Who''s
series 3 Series 3 may refer to:
* 3 Skypephone Series, the mobile phone series
* Apple Watch Series 3, smart watch
* Aston Martin Lagonda Series 3, the automobile model
* Aston Martin V8 Series 3, the automobile model
* BMW 3 Series, the automobile model li ...
episode "
Utopia
A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island societ ...
".
Between related shows
Though most common on shows of the same
production company
A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and v ...
(see, for example, "
Hurricane Saturday
''Hurricane Saturday'' is a one-off programming block of a three-way, two-hour crossover event on NBC which involved three television sitcoms created by Susan Harris: '' The Golden Girls'', ''Empty Nest'' and ''Nurses''. The event depicts a fic ...
"), crossovers have also occurred because shows share the same distributor or
television network
A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid- ...
. A notable example of this kind of link is that between ''
Murder, She Wrote'' and ''
Magnum, P.I.
''Magnum, P.I.'' is an American crime drama television series starring Tom Selleck as Thomas Magnum, a private investigator (P.I.) living on Oahu, Hawaii. The series ran from December 11, 1980 to May 8, 1988 during its first-run broadcast on ...
'' These shows were made by different companies, but owned by
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
and broadcast on
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
. Another case is that of ''
Mad About You
''Mad About You'' is an American television sitcom starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a married couple in New York City. It initially aired on NBC from September 23, 1992, to May 24, 1999, winning numerous awards including four Golden Glob ...
'' and ''
Friends'', which share the character of
Ursula Buffay
Various characters appeared in the sitcom ''Friends'' and its spin-off series ''Joey'', which respectively aired for ten seasons and two seasons on NBC from 1994 to 2006. ''Friends'' featured six main cast members: Rachel Green-Geller (Jennifer A ...
. Neither show shares any production or distribution commonality, but rather an actress (
Lisa Kudrow
Lisa Valerie Kudrow ( ; born July 30, 1963) is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter. She rose to fame for her role as Phoebe Buffay in the sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004), which has since been named one of the greatest television cha ...
), a setting (
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
) and a schedule (''Friends'' initially followed ''Mad About You'' on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
's
Thursday night schedule).
''Mad About You'' and ''Friends'' share another type of "network crossover". On rare occasions, networks have chosen to theme an entire night's programming around a crossover "event". In one case, a New York City
blackout caused by
Paul Reiser
Paul Reiser (; born March 30, 1956) is an American actor, comedian, and television writer. He is known for his roles as Michael Taylor in the 1980s sitcom ''My Two Dads'', Paul Buchman in the NBC sitcom ''Mad About You'', Modell in the 1982 fi ...
's character on ''Mad About You'' was experienced by the characters on ''Friends'' and ''
Madman of the People''. Such "event nights" can also be linked by a single character's quest across multiple shows on the same evening.
ABC attempted this kind of "event night" crossover with its
Friday night programming during the 1997 season. There, they proposed that the title character of ''
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appear ...
'' should chase her cat,
Salem, through ''
Boy Meets World
''Boy Meets World'' is an American coming-of-age sitcom created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that aired on ABC for seven seasons between September1993 and May2000. The series centers on Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and his friends and fami ...
'', ''
You Wish'' and ''
Teen Angel'' because it had run away with a "time ball" that was displacing each show through time.
ABC also attempted a "crossover" when four of its sitcoms (''
Grace Under Fire
''Grace Under Fire'' is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from September 29, 1993, to February 17, 1998. The show starred Brett Butler as a single mother learning how to cope with raising her three children alone after finally divorcing her ...
'', ''
Ellen'', ''
The Drew Carey Show
''The Drew Carey Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC from September 13, 1995 to September 8, 2004. Set in Cleveland, Ohio, the series revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalize ...
'' and ''
Coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Co ...
'') all went to
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
during the 1996–1997 season.
Dan Schneider
Daniel James Schneider (born January 14, 1966) is an American television producer, screenwriter, and actor. After appearing in mostly supporting roles in a number of 1980s and 1990s films and TV shows, Schneider devoted himself to behind-the-s ...
used his show ''
Zoey 101
''Zoey 101'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. It aired from January 9, 2005, to May 2, 2008.
It focuses on the lives of Zoey Brooks ( Jamie Lynn Spears), her brother Dustin ( Paul Butcher), ...
'' to promote his new show ''
iCarly'' by making characters from ''Zoey 101'' go to ''ICarly.com'' or use the ''iCarly'' theme song as a ringtone. A ''
Henry Danger'' comic book and Gibby's wax head is seen in the ''
Game Shakers
''Game Shakers'' is an American comedy television series created by Dan Schneider that premiered on Nickelodeon on September 12, 2015. The series ran for three seasons, with its final episode airing on June 8, 2019. It stars Cree Cicchino, Mad ...
'' episode "Lost Jacket, Falling Pigeons", the subway station's lost and found.
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
's superhero franchise
Arrowverse
The Arrowverse is an American superhero media franchise and a shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series on CW See ...
has held annual
crossover events since 2014.
Narrative rationales
On other occasions, crossovers between established shows can occur without a network or production commonality, but simply because there is some narrative rationale for the crossover. The appearance of detective
John Munch
John Munch is a fictional character played by actor Richard Belzer. Munch first appeared on the American crime drama television series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' on NBC. A regular through the entire run of the series from 1993 to 1999, Mu ...
(from NBC's ''
Homicide: Life on the Street'') on Fox's ''The X-Files'' happened merely because the episode revolved around a crime scene in Baltimore, a logical place for characters on ''The X-Files'' to have encountered Munch. Munch would also appear on the TV series ''
Law & Order'' on NBC in which it had one episode which began on that series in New York City and concluded in Baltimore on ''Homicide: Life on the Street''. Later, when ''Homicide'' went off the air in 1999, Detective Munch ends up leaving Baltimore to move to New York, and becoming a permanent character (as New York City Detective Munch) on NBC's ''
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' until October 2013.
A two-part crossover episode between ''
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...
'' with ''
Without a Trace
''Without a Trace'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Hank Steinberg that aired on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009 with the total of seven seasons and 160 episodes. The series focuses the cases of ...
'' aired on November 8, 2007. The first hour was on ''CSI'' and the second hour was on ''Without a Trace''.
While both series are on the same network in the United States, spreading two parts of a story across two different shows can cause problems in international markets where they have been separately sold to different broadcasters. For example, in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, ''Without a Trace'' was shown on
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...
and ''CSI'' on
Channel 5, meaning the two companies had to come to a special agreement to show both episodes.
Another ''CSI'' crossover occurred in 2009 when
Raymond Langston from ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' appeared both in ''
CSI: Miami
''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...
'' and ''
CSI: NY
''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...
'', traveling to Miami and New York to track a human trafficking and organ harvesting ring. ''
ER'' had a crossover with ''
Third Watch
''Third Watch'' is an American crime drama television series created by John Wells and Edward Allen Bernero that aired on NBC from September 26, 1999, to May 6, 2005, with a total of 132 episodes spanning over six seasons. It was produced ...
'' which corresponded with a peak in viewership for the latter show, with 17.2 million viewers.
In 2013, the Canadian crime drama series ''
Republic of Doyle
''Republic of Doyle'' is a Canadian comedy-drama television series set in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, which aired on CBC Television from January 6, 2010, to December 10, 2014.
The show stars Allan Hawco as private investigator and f ...
'' and ''
Murdoch Mysteries'' produced a crossover,
which was complicated by the shows' incompatible historical settings; ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a historical series set in the 1890s, while ''Republic of Doyle'' is set in the present day. The problem was solved by having the actors cross over as ''relatives'' of their primary characters;
Allan Hawco
Allan Hawco is a Canadian writer, actor, and producer from Bell Island, Newfoundland. He is best known for his roles in the series '' Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan'', ''Republic of Doyle'', and '' The Book of Negroes'', and the television limited seri ...
appeared on the November 25, 2013 episode of ''Murdoch Mysteries'' as Jacob Doyle, a 19th-century ancestor of his regular character Jake Doyle, while
Yannick Bisson
Yannick Denis Bisson (born May 16, 1969) is a Canadian film and television actor and director best known to international audiences for playing Detective William Murdoch on the series ''Murdoch Mysteries''.
Early life
Bisson was born in Montrea ...
appeared on a January 2014 episode of ''Republic of Doyle'' as Bill Murdoch, a 21st-century descendant of his regular character William Murdoch.
In children's television
The earliest example in the 1970s is
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
' ''
The Electric Company
''The Electric Company'' is an American educational children's television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop (CTW, now known as Sesame Workshop). It was co-created by Paul Dooley, Joan Ganz Cooney, and Lloyd Morrisett. The ...
''.
Disney Channel's ''Suite Life'' franchise has featured three crossovers: In 2006, ''
That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana
"That's So Suite Life of Hannah Montana" is a fictional crossover, crossover episode of the Disney Channel sitcoms ''That's So Raven'', ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'', and ''Hannah Montana''. In the United States, it aired on July 28, 2006 ...
'' featured characters from ''
Hannah Montana'' and ''
That's So Raven
''That's So Raven'' is an American television teen sitcom that was created by Michael Poryes and Susan Sherman, and aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between January 2003 and November 2007. The series centers on Raven Baxter (Raven-S ...
'' taking a vacation at the Tipton Hotel (the main setting of ''
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' is an American sitcom created by Danny Kallis and Jim Geoghan. The series aired on Disney Channel from March 18, 2005, to September 1, 2008. The series was nominated for an Emmy Award three times and was al ...
'');
Hannah Montana/
Miley Stewart
Miley Ray Stewart is the fictional main character in the Disney Channel television series ''Hannah Montana'', portrayed by Miley Cyrus. She first appeared on television in the pilot episode "Lilly, Do You Want to Know a Secret?" on March 24, 2 ...
(
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip ho ...
) also eats cake off Zack; this recurs when she eats cake off of Cody during the 2009 crossover ''
Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana
"Wizards on Deck with Hannah Montana" is a trilogy of crossover episodes between three Disney Channel original sitcoms which premiered in the United States on July 17, 2009. The crossover spanned across episodes of ''Wizards of Waverly Place' ...
'', in which characters from ''
Wizards of Waverly Place
''Wizards of Waverly Place'' is an American fantasy teen sitcom created by Todd J. Greenwald that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between October 2007 and January 2012. The series centers on Alex Russo (Selena Gomez), a teenage wiza ...
'' and ''Hannah Montana'' come on aboard the S.S. Tipton (though the characters from ''Wizards of Waverly Place'' and ''Hannah Montana'' do not interact). In 2011 episode of ''
Good Luck Charlie
''Good Luck Charlie'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on Disney Channel from April 4, 2010, to February 16, 2014. The series' creators, Phil Baker and Drew Vaupen, wanted to create a program that would appeal to entire families, no ...
'', the family are getting ready
to go to Chicago to see CeCe and Rocky. In the 2013 holiday special, the family meets the cast of
Jessie. The New Year's Eve special ''
Austin & Jessie & Ally All Star New Year
"Austin & Jessie & Ally All Star New Year" is a special crossover television films of two Disney Channel original sitcoms which premiered in the United States on December 7, 2012. This special episode is an episode of both ''Austin & Ally'' and '' ...
'', which aired in that year, features characters from ''
Austin & Ally'' and ''Jessie''. In 2014, ''
Liv & Maddie'' characters are having a Hawaiian party with the cast of ''Jessie''. In 2015, a crossover between two
Disney XD
Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven yea ...
shows ''
Lab Rats: Bionic Island'' and ''
Mighty Med
''Mighty Med'' is an American television series created by Jim Bernstein and Andy Schwartz and produced by It's a Laugh Productions for Disney XD. It stars Bradley Steven Perry, Jake Short, Paris Berelc, Devan Leos, and Augie Isaac. The series ai ...
'' crossed over in the special "Lab Rats vs. Mighty Med". In the 2020 episode of ''
Bunk'd
''Bunk'd'' is an American comedy television series created by Pamela Eells O'Connell that premiered on Disney Channel on July 31, 2015. The series is a spinoff of '' Jessie'' and for the first three seasons includes returning stars Peyton List, ...
'', the cast are meeting with Raven Baxter.
The network's animated series does crossovers such as ''
Lilo & Stitch: The Series'' and ''
Phineas and Ferb
''Phineas and Ferb'' is an American animated musical-comedy television series created by Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh for Disney Channel and Disney XD. Produced by Disney Television Animation, the series was originally broadcast as ...
''.
Disney Junior
Disney Junior is an American pay television network owned by the Walt Disney Television (part of Disney General Entertainment Content) unit of The Walt Disney Company through Disney Branded Television. Aimed mainly at children two to seven y ...
does crossovers such as ''
Special Agent Oso
''Special Agent Oso '' () was an American computer-animated children's television series. The series was created by Ford Riley. It premiered on April 4, 2009 with 2 episodes airing that day as part of Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney block," ...
'' and ''
Elena of Avalor
''Elena of Avalor'' is an American computer-animated adventure television series that premiered on Disney Channel on July 22, 2016, and moved to Disney Junior on July 14, 2018. The series features Aimee Carrero as the voice of Elena, a Latina pri ...
.
Another type of crossover involves characters from an off-the-air series resurfacing in a newer series. This occurred in a 2010 episode of the
Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...
sitcom ''
iCarly''; the episode "iStart a Fan War" featured recurring characters from two Nickelodeon series: ''
Drake & Josh'' characters Eric Blonowitz, Craig Ramirez, Gavin Mitchell, and ''
Zoey 101
''Zoey 101'' is an American comedy drama television series created by Dan Schneider for Nickelodeon. It aired from January 9, 2005, to May 2, 2008.
It focuses on the lives of Zoey Brooks ( Jamie Lynn Spears), her brother Dustin ( Paul Butcher), ...
'' character Stacey Dillsen. A crossover between ''
Victorious
''Victorious'' (stylized as ''VICTORiOUS'') is an American sitcom created by Dan Schneider that originally aired on Nickelodeon, debuting on March 27, 2010, and concluding on February 2, 2013 after four seasons. The series revolves around asp ...
'' and ''Drake & Josh'' also occurred, with Helen DuBois, portrayed by
Yvette Nicole Brown
Yvette Nicole Brown (born August 12, 1971) is an American actress, comedian, writer and host. She starred as Shirley Bennett on the NBC sitcom ''Community'', as Dani in the 2015 version of '' The Odd Couple'' on CBS and as Dina Rose on the AB ...
making an appearance. An episode titled "
iParty with Victorious
''iParty with Victorious'' is a 2011 television movie that acts as a crossover of the television series '' iCarly'' and ''Victorious''. It premiered on Nickelodeon June 11, 2011.
The crossover's theme song mash-up, "Leave It All to Shine", pre ...
" was a crossover between ''iCarly'' and ''Victorious''. This means all four shows exist in the same universe. However, in ''Who Did It to Trina'', Tori referred to ''Drake and Josh'' as a TV show, making it seem as if the previous appearance was an actor of a character from a show within a show. Also in several episodes from ''iCarly'' and ''
Sam & Cat
''Sam & Cat'' is an American teen sitcom that originally aired from June 8, 2013, to July 17, 2014, on Nickelodeon. It is a spin-off of two TV shows ''iCarly'' and ''Victorious'', which Dan Schneider also created. It stars Jennette McCurdy as S ...
'' (a crossover/spin-off of ''iCarly'' and ''Victorious'') one can see ''Drake and Josh'' and ''Zoey 101'' in TV guides, when the characters are watching TV. Carly and Spencer were heard watching it in the ''iCarly'' episode ''iGet Pranky'' and Carly is seen looking at it briefly in ''iToe Fat Cakes'' and we can see the character Megan from ''Drake and Josh'' (also portrayed by
Miranda Cosgrove
Miranda Taylor Cosgrove (born May 14, 1993) is an American actress and singer. She was the highest-paid child actor in 2012 and was included on ''Forbes'' magazine's " 30 Under 30" list in 2022. She is known for her career on television, parti ...
) and Sam is seen changing the channel to it in ''#FavoriteShow'' an episode from ''Sam & Cat'', making the universe between each of the shows confusing. However, these were probably all non-canonical references.
In 2014, ''
The Thundermans
''The Thundermans'' is an American comedy television series created by Jed Spingarn that aired on Nickelodeon from October 14, 2013 to May 25, 2018. The series stars Kira Kosarin, Jack Griffo, Addison Riecke, Diego Velazquez, Chris Tallman, R ...
'' and ''
The Haunted Hathaways
''The Haunted Hathaways'' is an American television supernatural sitcom that began airing on Nickelodeon July 13, 2013, and ended on March 5, 2015. It tells the story of a single mother and her two daughters who move into a home occupied by thre ...
'' did a crossover, titled "The Haunted Thundermans". In 2016, ''
Henry Danger'' and ''The Thundermans'' did a crossover, titled "Danger & Thunder". In 2017, ''Henry Danger'' and ''Game Shakers'' did a crossover, called "Danger Games", which was then followed by a crossover episode, called "Babe Loves Danger", that aired in 2018. In 2017, ''Game Shakers'' did a crossover with ''iCarly'', titled "Game Shippers". In 2019, ''Henry Danger'' did a crossover with ''
Knight Squad
''Knight Squad'' is an American comedy television series created by Sean Cunningham and Marc Dworkin that aired on Nickelodeon from February 19, 2018 to April 20, 2019. The series stars Owen Joyner, Daniella Perkins, Lilimar, Lexi DiBenedetto, A ...
''
Nick Jr.
Nick Jr. (known on-air as the Nick Jr. Channel) is an American pay television channel spun off from Nickelodeon's long-running programming block of the same name. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Gr ...
does a crossover with ''
The Fresh Beat Band
''The Fresh Beat Band'' (originally known as ''The JumpArounds'') is an American live action musical children's television series created by Scott Kraft and Nadine van der Velde for Nickelodeon. The show stars the "Fresh Beats" (Kiki, Shout, M ...
'' are meeting the cast of ''
Yo Gabba Gabba!
''Yo Gabba Gabba!'' is a children's musical television series created by Christian Jacobs and Scott Schultz. The series is about five costumed toys come-to-life and their friend DJ Lance Rock (Lance Robertson). It is co-produced by Magic Stor ...
''.
The main characters of ''
Aaahh!!! Real Monsters
''Aaahh!!! Real Monsters'' is an American animated television series developed by Klasky Csupo for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on three young monsters—Ickis, Oblina, and Krumm—who attend a school for monsters under a city dump and learn to ...
'' make a crossover appearance in the ''
Rugrats
''Rugrats'' is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The show focuses on a group of toddlers; most prominently— Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica, and twins Phil and Lil, a ...
'' episode, "
Ghost Story". This is because both shows were created/produced by
Klasky Csupo
Klasky-Csupo, Inc. (stylized as KLaSKY CSUPO INC., doing business as Klasky Csupo, ) is an American animation studio located in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1982 by producer Arlene Klasky and Hungarian animator Gábor Csupó (he ...
and distributed also by Nickelodeon. In 2004, the animated series The Fairy OddParents had a
three-episode crossover with CGI character Jimmy Neutron. ''
The Loud House
''The Loud House'' is an American animated television series created by Chris Savino that premiered on Nickelodeon on May 2, 2016. The series revolves around the chaotic everyday life of a boy named Lincoln Loud, who is the middle child and only s ...
'' did a crossover with ''
Double Dare''.
Cartoon Network does crossovers such as ''
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
''The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'' is an American Animated series, animated television series created by Maxwell Atoms for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Domestic Television. It follows Bill ...
'' and ''
OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes''.
In
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, children's programmes and characters from
El Mundo del Profesor Rossa
''El Mundo del Profesor Rossa'' ( panish Languagefor The World of Professor Rossa) was a Chilean children's television show centering on a professor named "Professor Rossa" ( Iván Arenas), who taught about Chilean national animals, mountains and ...
(
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
for ''The World of Professor Rossa'') and
Cachureos
''Cachureos'' (Chilean Spanish for ''odds and ends'') was a Chilean television program created in 1983 by Marcelo Hernández.
Show
Cachureos is like a game show where the host, "Tío Marcelo", gives prizes to the kids who win the competitions. ...
(
Chilean Spanish
Chilean Spanish ( es, español chileno) is any of several varieties of the Spanish language spoken in most of Chile. Chilean Spanish dialects have distinctive pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary, and slang usages that differ from those of Stand ...
for ''odds and ends'') conducted a crossover between them for a few minutes in their emissions of Saturday 18 (Mundo del Profesor Rossa) and Sunday 19 (Cachureos) of April 1998 due to the introduction of the latter programme on
Canal 13, after several years of broadcast on
TVN TVN may refer to:
* TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel
* Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster
* TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi
* TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...
and even have competed with each other for the child audience.
The Netflix series ''
Harvey Girls Forever!'' (which back then was known as ''Harvey Street Kids'' in 2018) has crossed over with famous cartoon character
Richie Rich for its third and fourth seasons. There is also a crossover episode called "Scare Bud", which the show crossed over with
Casper the Friendly Ghost
Casper the Friendly Ghost is the protagonist of the Famous Studios theatrical animated cartoon series of the same name. He is a pleasant, personable and translucent ghost, but often criticized by his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio.
The ...
.
Special usages
Promotional cameos
Crossovers can take the form of a promotional
cameo appearance
A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...
, used to draw attention to another work of fiction, with little rational explanation in the context of the hosting show's narrative. When not clearly presented as parody, this is frequently scorned by fans as blatant commercialism. A notable example of this is ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' episode "
A Star Is Burns", in which the character of Jay Sherman (from ''
The Critic
''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...
'') appeared. It originally aired on March 5, 1995, on FOX right before ''The Critic'' began its second season, its first season having aired on ABC. This episode was largely condemned by fans of ''The Simpsons'' as existing to promote ''The Critic'', an animated series considered inferior by comparison. Even ''Simpsons'' creator
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is the creator of the comic strip ''Life in Hell'' (1977–2012) and the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Fut ...
objected, preferring to remove his name from the credits of that particular episode in protest.
The character Dan Tanna (played by Robert Urich) from the detective series ''
Vega$
''Vegas'' (stylized as ''Vega$'') is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 20, 1978, to June 3, 1981, with the pilot episode airing April 25, 1978. ''Vegas'' was produced by Aaron Spelling and created by Mic ...
'' appeared in an episode of ''
Charlie's Angels'' ("Angels in Vegas") one week prior to the debut of ''Vega$''. However, it is not considered a spin-off because Dan Tanna was introduced in the pilot that was aired as an ''ABC TV Movie of the Week'' on the evening of Tuesday, April 25, 1978. The crossover was simply used to reintroduce the Dan Tanna character and to promote the debut of ''Vega$'' as an ongoing series. Additionally, the cast of ''
The Love Boat
''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...
'' appeared in the fourth season premier of ''
Charlie's Angels'' ("Love Boat Angels").
In 2010, as a nod to the 50th anniversary of ''
Coronation Street'', characters in fellow established TV soap ''
EastEnders'' made reference to watching the special anniversary episode.
''EastEnders'' had celebrated its own 25th anniversary earlier in the same year.
The two
CBS Daytime game shows (''
The Price Is Right
''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...
'' and ''
Let's Make a Deal
''Let's Make a Deal'' (also known as ''LMAD'') is an American television musical comedy variety-game show that originated in the United States in 1963 and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The program was created an ...
'') are used for promotional cameos from other CBS properties. Promotional cameos from the two daytime dramas, primetime shows (including primetime airings), and sports properties are common. ''Price'' has been used to promote anniversaries of CBS daytime dramas, the ''NCIS'' franchise, the three reality shows, and
CBS Sports' coverage of the NFL.
Spin-offs
In its simplest and most common form, a television crossover involves a starring character on a parent show appearing on a
spin-off or vice versa because of established character relationships. An obvious example of this type of crossover occurred when
Cliff Huxtable
Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby Show,'' which aired from 1984 to 1992. He was portrayed by actor and comedian Bill Cosby and appeared in all 201 episodes of the show.
Cliff ...
of ''
The Cosby Show
''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...
'' visited his daughter,
Denise, on ''A Different World (TV series), A Different World''. Another example of this is ''The Bionic Woman'', which was a spin-off from ''The Six Million Dollar Man''. Jaime Sommers (The Bionic Woman), Jaime Sommers was a tennis pro who was nearly killed in a Parachuting, skydiving accident, but her life was saved by Oscar Goldman (Richard Anderson) and Dr. Rudy Wells (Martin E. Brooks) who surgically implanted her with bionic parts similar to those of Steve Austin (fictional character), Steve Austin. Steve Austin and Jaimie Sommers often crossovered, while the characters Oscar Goldman and Rudy Wells appeared regularly in both shows. Another example would be the appearances made by ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series), Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' characters to ''Angel (1999 TV series), Angel'' in Los Angeles from Sunnydale; in a striking example, "Fool for Love (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Fool for Love" and "Darla (Angel episode), Darla", shown on the same night, contain overlapping flashbacks as remembered by Spike (vampire), Spike and Darla (vampire), Darla respectively. There is also ''Frasier'', which features characters from the first show, ''Cheers''. Similarly, ''Dallas (1978 TV series), Dallas'' characters J. R. Ewing, Bobby Ewing, Lucy Ewing and Kristin Shepard all appeared in its spin-off ''Knots Landing'' while ''Knots Landing'' characters Gary Ewing and Valene Ewing each made several appearances on ''Dallas'' after ''Knots Landing'' premiered.
More complex multi-production franchises can utilize crossovers of characters to serve as a device in establishing continuity in a shared fictional universe. This crossover is common in the Star Trek crossovers, ''Star Trek'' universe, where minor guest stars from one series have appeared as featured guest stars later ones. A good example of this crossover is that of the Klingons Kor (Star Trek), Kor (from the ''Star Trek: The Original Series, Original Series'' episode "Errand of Mercy"), Koloth (from "The Trouble with Tribbles") and Kang (Star Trek), Kang (from "Day of the Dove"). After the passage of about a century of narrative time, the three onetime adversaries of James T. Kirk, Captain Kirk appeared together in the ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'' episode, "Blood Oath (DS9 episode), Blood Oath" – as the Klingons and Federation had become allies in the century between, the former villains are now portrayed as heroes. Another Klingon, Arne Darvin, appeared as a secondary character in "The Trouble with Tribbles", but was the principal villain of DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations". Intended as a celebration of the franchise's 30th anniversary, "Trials and Tribble-ations" was actually a crossover in and of itself; using then brand-new Chroma key, bluescreen techniques, the episode places the DS9 cast (after hijacking the ''USS Defiant, Defiant'', Darvin had gone back in time hoping to kill Kirk and become a hero to the Klingons, and it's up to Benjamin Sisko, Sisko and his comrades to stop Darvin and preserve the timeline) inside the TOS episode, interacting with James T. Kirk, Spock and the rest of the ''USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), Enterprise'' crew.
The distinction between "spin-off" and "crossover" is sometimes narrow. The two terms can become especially conflated if two shows are linked by a guest star with a single appearance. There is debate, for instance over whether ''Out of the Blue (1979 TV series), Out of the Blue'' is a spin-off of ''Happy Days'', or whether the star of ''Out of the Blue'' merely crossed over into ''Happy Days''.
''Mako: Island of Secrets, Mako Mermaids'', a spinoff of ''H2O: Just Add Water, H
2O: Just Add Water'', featured a guest appearance by Rikki Chadwick, a main character from the former series, in its final two episodes, thus confirming that the spin off-acts as a sequel rather than a prequel or alternative storyline as many fans suspected.
Parodic crossovers
Often, the problems of bringing together two shows with different narrative ambitions make the writing of a crossover burdensome. Such difficulties are encountered by situation comedies that wish to crossover with television drama, dramatic television programs. The satirical crossover—ranging in length from a cameo to a full sketch comedy, comedy sketch or episode—is an extremely popular way of circumventing this problem. By various means, such crossovers typically avoid outcry from fans by being obvious parody or Homage (arts), homage. However, on rare occasion, the humor of such crossovers can be used by one show make a narrative point by capitalizing on the audience's experience of the other program.
Such tongue-in-cheek crossovers typically fall into one of several broad categories.
Parodic crossovers can be directly established as being outside the continuity of one or all of the properties being crossed over. A good example is the crossover between ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' and ''
The X-Files
''The X-Files'' is an American science fiction drama television series created by Chris Carter. The series revolves around Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), who ...
'', which was largely accepted as being outside standard ''X-Files'' continuity.
One episode of ''
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy
''The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy'' is an American Animated series, animated television series created by Maxwell Atoms for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Television Studios, Warner Bros. Domestic Television. It follows Bill ...
'' shows that after Mandy smiles, she, along with Billy and Grim, are transformed into
The Powerpuff Girls
''The Powerpuff Girls'' is an American superhero animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken and produced by Hanna-Barbera (later Cartoon Network Studios) for Cartoon Network and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Telev ...
with a cameo by Professor Utonium.
They can occur by virtue of a dream sequence, in which the characters of one show will appear as part of a dream had by a character on another show. This method was perhaps used most famously to explain to audiences that the entirety of ''Newhart'' had been the dream of Bob Newhart's character on ''The Bob Newhart Show''. It has more recently been used to demonstrate that cast members of ''The Young and the Restless'' appeared in a dream of a character on ''The King of Queens''.
Parodic crossovers can take the form of "joke, gag" cameos by characters of one property appearing on another. Characters from ''King of the Hill (TV series), King of the Hill'' have appeared on ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' to comment on a peewee football game. Gag cameos may also include the appearance of an actor from another show, but not necessarily the character that the actor played. For instance, on the ABC/CBS show ''Family Matters (TV series), Family Matters'' during the closing credits of the episode "Scenes From a Mall" (Season 5, Episode 12), a scene which was shown earlier in the episode featuring Reginald VelJohnson is re-played, but this time with one of the child actors stating that he "looks like that fat guy from Fresh Prince," referring to James L. Avery, Sr., James Avery who played Judge Phillip Banks on NBC's ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air''. To the obvious surprise of the studio audience and VelJohnson, Avery walked onto the set with an angry look, being in on the staged joke himself. Ended the episode (but with the cameras filming still), VelJohnson and Avery hugged and smilingly greeted the public.
Crossovers of this type can also be completely wordless. This type of crossover is more common on animated programs, such as when Bender (Futurama), Bender found and ate Bart Simpson's shorts on ''
Futurama'', or Milhouse Van Houten, Milhouse had a talking Bender doll on ''The Simpsons''. This would seem to be another case when a popular franchise is acknowledged as fiction and not a crossover of the stories.
Perhaps the most obvious parodic crossover is found when characters from two series interact outside ''either'' series. This occurs most commonly on a sketch comedy show or as a humorous interlude on an award telecast. Such crossovers may sometimes involve the real actors—for example, a sketch on ''Royal Canadian Air Farce'' saw Yasir and Sarah from ''Little Mosque on the Prairie'' buying the gas station from ''Corner Gas'', with many of the characters in the sketch being portrayed by the shows' real actors—although they may also feature one genuine star from the show amid a cast comprised otherwise of the sketch show's own stable of actors. Such crossovers are generally immediately apparent as parodies to the audience—and in no way considered a part of either show's continuity—due to the need for the hosting show to approximate the sets and costumes of the satirized programs quickly and inexpensively. When Patrick Stewart appeared in a ''Star Trek: The Next Generation''/''
The Love Boat
''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...
'' crossover on ''Saturday Night Live'', for instance, few ''Star Trek'' fans would have been fooled by the visual design into believing the event "counted" as an episode of the show. However, there are some cases of this type of parody having some canon (fiction), canonical resonance with viewers. For instance, the British charity appeal Comic Relief (charity), Comic Relief often contains parodic crossovers of a technically higher quality than the typical sketch show. Many of these ''Relief'' sketches are produced by the cast and crew of the actual programs being parodied, and hence appear to be "normal" episodes. A good example of this is the sketch, "BallyKissDibley", an 11-minute piece in which the leads of ''Ballykissangel'' appeared on the sets of ''The Vicar of Dibley'', alongside most of ''Dibley''s cast. Since the sketch derived its humor from all actors remaining in character, the extent to which these parodies "count" as part of either show's canon is more open to interpretation than most sketch crossovers.
Parodic crossovers can be used to lend verisimilitude to the fictional world of a program. Characters from a fictional television series may appear on a stylized version of an established non-fictional television series, such as game shows or reality shows. These crossovers between celebrity hosts and fictional characters are quite common on situation comedy, situation comedies. ''Mama's Family'' once appeared on ''Family Feud'' and the townsfolk of ''The Vicar of Dibley'' have had their heirlooms valuated on ''Antiques Roadshow'', for instance. In such cases, it is generally the non-fictional show which ends up being the most satirized, due to a need to compress the experience to its most recognizable elements. However, these crossovers can happen on dramatic television, such as when ''Blue Peter'' provided Exposition (literary technique), narrative exposition on ''The Sarah Jane Adventures''. Rarely, brief crossovers between two fictional programs can be used for this same purpose. In the episode, "Army of Ghosts", Peggy Mitchell was seen in a fictionalized scene from ''
EastEnders'' in order to demonstrate the degree to which the titular ghosts had permeated the popular culture of ''
Doctor Who''s United Kingdom, Britain. Here, too, time constraints caused the satire of the guest programme (''EastEnders'') and not the host program (''Doctor Who'').
Retroactive crossovers
Sometimes, crossovers occur even when there was no explicit intent to create them. Viewer interpretation can play into the size and complexity of crossovers. These sorts of crossovers involve no creation of additional material, but merely result from inferences drawn about existing filmed episodes. Usually they are a product of narrative ambiguity. Perhaps the best example of this was caused by the unusual ending to ''St. Elsewhere''. One interpretation of the ending scene of the final episode has been that the entire run of the program was a figment of autism, autistic character Tommy Westphall's imagination. This leads itself to a broad interpretation of the events of that series. Because the show had direct crossovers with twelve different programmes, and each one of these twelve had numerous ''other'' crossovers, linkages can be found from ''Elsewhere'' to 280 other shows, comprising what has been called "the Tommy Westphall Universe".
Tokusatsu for Japan
* ''Kamen Rider''
* ''Super Sentai''
* ''Ultra Series''
* ''Metal Hero Series''
* ''Chouseishin Series''
German crossover
One of the earlier instances of crossovers in TV productions outside the US is the episode ' (1990), which was produced by Westdeutscher Rundfunk, WDR and Deutscher Fernsehfunk, DFF as a crossover between the West Germany, West German crime series ''Tatort'' and the East Germany, East German crime series ''Polizeiruf 110''. Their respective popular heroes Horst Schimanski and Peter Fuchs join forces to solve a case in the turmoil of the time after the Berlin Wall#The fall, fall of the Berlin Wall. The episode was produced during the short transition period between the fall of the Berlin Wall and the German reunification, reunification of Germany.
See also
* Amalgam Comics
* Canon (fiction)
* Callback (comedy)
* Continuity (fiction)
* Cross-licensing
* Fanfiction
* Fictional character
* Fictional universe
* Intercompany crossover
* Shared universe
* Tommy Westphall
*
Wold Newton family
The Wold Newton family is a literary concept derived from a form of crossover fiction developed by the American science fiction writer Philip José Farmer.
Origins
In real life a meteorite, called the Wold Cottage meteorite, fell near Wold Ne ...
References
External links
Thoughts On Crossovers In General (Kathryn Andersen)An essay musing on the numerous elements necessary to a successful crossover (primarily aimed at fan-written fiction).
Crossovers which build upon and take place in Philip José Farmer's World Newton continuity.
Jess Nevins' history of the fictional crossover
{{Superhero fiction
Crossover fiction,
Comics terminology
Film and video terminology
Television terminology